YouTube says Australia’s “rushed” new laws to block teens from its platform will mean children will be less safe as its “robust parental controls” will be stripped away.
Parents will “lose their ability to supervise their teen or tween’s account”, such as content settings or blocking channels, from 10 December when a social media ban for under-16s starts. Children will still be able to view videos, but without an account.
Communications Minister Anika Wells responded by saying it was “outright weird” that YouTube was highlighting the dangers of its platform for children.
“If YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe … that’s a problem that YouTube needs to fix,” Wells said on Wednesday.
The platform’s statement comes as Australia’s internet regulator sets her sights on two little-known apps that teens have flocked to in the lead-up to the country’s social media ban.
Lemon8, owned by the creators behind TikTok, and Yope are video and photo-sharing apps that have seen a rise in downloads recently, prompting the eSafety Commissioner to ask them to self-assess if they fall under the ban.
The government reversed an exemption for YouTube from the ban in July, with the eSafety Commissioner saying it was “the most frequently cited platform” where children aged 10 to 15 years saw “harmful content”.
In a statement on Wednesday, the video-sharing platform said it would comply but that the new law undermined more than a decade’s work in building “robust protections and parental controls that families rely on for a safer YouTube experience”.
“Most importantly, this law will not fulfil its promise to make kids safer online, and will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe on YouTube,” wrote Rachel Lord, public policy senior manager at Google and YouTube Australia, adding that parents and educators shared these concerns.
She labelled the ban, which comes under the Social Media Minimum Age Act, as “rushed regulation that misunderstands our platform and the way young Australians use it”.
From 10 December, anyone under 16 will be automatically signed out of their YouTube account, meaning they cannot upload content or post comments. YouTube Kids is not part of the ban.
In addition, default wellbeing settings such as reminders to take a break or go to bed will no longer be available to children as they only work for account holders.
Ms Lord said the legislation had “failed to allow for adequate consultation and consideration of the real complexities of online safety regulation.”
YouTube’s parent company, Google, has reportedly considered launching a legal challenge to the platform’s inclusion in the ban. It did not respond to a BBC request for comment.
In a speech on Wednesday, exactly a week before the ban kicks in, Wells said teething problems were expected in the first few days and weeks.
“Regulation, and cultural change, takes time. Takes patience,” she said.
Wells said Gen Alpha – anyone under 15 years – were connected to a “dopamine drip” from the moment they got a smartphone and social media accounts.
Previous generations had dealt with bullying or potentially harmful content but it was limited, she said. New technology meant children today had “constant access” with algorithms and notifications “stealing their attention for hours every day”.
“With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as behavioural cocaine.”
Tech companies will have to provide regular six-monthly reports on how many accounts they have for under-16s, she said.
Under the ban, tech companies can be fined up to A$49.5m (US$33m, £25m) if they don’t comply with the age restrictions. They will need to deactivate existing accounts and prohibit any new accounts, as well as stopping any work arounds.
The other platforms that fall under the ban are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Twitch, Threads, Reddit and Kick.
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