Australia’s bold experiment - ban kids from YouTube
Parents, regulators, governments — all at time seem powerless against the giants of social media.
We know Instagram, TikTok and all the rest are harmful for our children — we know they’re not good for us either — but all that anxiety usually ends in a resigned shrug. It’s not as if we can ban kids from the platforms.
In December, that’s exactly what Australia is going to do.
The law bans the under-16s from setting up social media accounts, compelling Australian users to prove they’re over 16 to access the sites.
Initially, YouTube was exempt from the ban — prompting rivals like Meta and TikTok to accuse ministers of a “sweetheart deal” with Google. TikTok said it was like banning soft drinks but exempting Coca-Cola.
Now, Australia’s eSafety commissioner is recommending YouTube be included in the ban — citing research suggesting 4-in-10 teenage users have accessed harmful material.
No final decision has been made, with the ban less than six months away. Neither is it clear how age verification will work. Face-scanning trials have mis-identified 15-year-olds as being in their thirties (on top of the obvious question of who’ll have access to all that face-scanning data).
And, of course, if a child’s parents or siblings have an account, there’s little the authorities can do to stop them using that to log in.
Still, the rest of the world will be watching what happens when Australia’s ban takes effect — and if it’s deemed a success it could be coming to your country soon.
