{"id":32441,"date":"2025-06-24T07:12:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32441"},"modified":"2025-06-24T07:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:12:34","slug":"youtubes-exemption-from-australias-social-media-ban-under-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32441","title":{"rendered":"YouTube\u2019s exemption from Australia\u2019s social media ban under scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=d5b3e17e-eff8-4e28-bc8b-d7c7a944925d\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Australia is reviewing whether to expand its groundbreaking social media ban for under-16s to include YouTube, after the country\u2019s internet safety regulator said\u00a0the Google-owned video sharing website is where children suffer the most online harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Australia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d53efd23-7af7-43c9-9680-7a295f3aba78\" data-trackable=\"link\">passed legislation<\/a> late last year aimed at preventing anyone under the age of 16 from registering to join social media platforms including Instagram, X, Facebook and Snapchat. The law puts the onus on technology companies to enforce the age limit or face significant fines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>YouTube was exempt from the ban, which will come into effect by December, on the basis of its wide-ranging role in formal education <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/0a3c9806-8b0f-4cca-a4e5-e1e6dd6d395b\" data-trackable=\"link\">as well as children\u2019s entertainment<\/a>, hosting videos from performers such as popular Australian musical act The Wiggles.<\/p>\n<p>Julie Inman Grant, Australia\u2019s eSafety Commissioner, who is charged with enforcing the ban, wrote to the government this month to call for YouTube to be included, after she submitted new research about the harmful effects of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/social-media\" data-trackable=\"link\">social media<\/a> on children.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in Canberra on Tuesday, Inman Grant said that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/stream\/4ee17c6c-3b3d-4d3a-a2f9-2a55b834977d\" data-trackable=\"link\">YouTube<\/a> was the most frequently cited platform in the regulator\u2019s research with almost 40 per cent of the 2,600 children aged 10-16 surveyed encountering harmful content on the site.<\/p>\n<p>She criticised the platform\u2019s \u201copaque algorithms [that drive] users down rabbit holes that they are powerless to fight against\u201d, and expressed concerns about reports that YouTube was cutting back its online safety teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Tuesday, YouTube-owner Google said the commissioner had \u201cignored\u201d what it called clear evidence from teachers and parents that the platform is suitable for younger users and should remain exempt from the ban.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s position from the eSafety commissioner represents inconsistent and contradictory advice,\u201d said Rachel Lord, senior manager at YouTube Australia, arguing that a reversal of the exemption would go against what the Australian government legislated last year.<\/p>\n<p>A potential U-turn would represent one of the first big tests for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s Labor government, which has reshuffled the cabinet after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/b097767c-7f2e-4a54-81ee-449571f4b33b\" data-trackable=\"link\">sweeping re-election<\/a> in nationwide polls in May. <\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for communications minister Anika Wells, who was promoted as part of the reshuffle, said the government would review the commissioner\u2019s advice, but that no decision had been made.<\/p>\n<p>Other countries around the world are closely watching Australia\u2019s world-first effort to restrict social media access for children, as well as the methods it adopts to enforce the ban.<\/p>\n<p>French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron this month vowed to ban social media access for those under the age of 15 if similar measures were not taken at the EU level.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"aside-label\" class=\"n-content-recommended--single-story n-content-recommended--inset\" data-component=\"recommended\">\n<p class=\"n-content-recommended__title o3-type-body-highlight\">Recommended<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser o-teaser--article o-teaser--small o-teaser--stacked o-teaser--has-image o-teaser--opinion js-teaser\" data-id=\"4c7d99cb-9022-4c82-878a-5852e0a07c24\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-container js-teaser-image-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/4c7d99cb-9022-4c82-878a-5852e0a07c24\" data-trackable=\"image-link\" data-trackable-context-story-link=\"image-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-placeholder\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2048\/1152\"><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Inman Grant said that the mechanics of the ban were still being worked out, but that research had shown why the action was needed. <\/p>\n<p>She said sexual extortion of children online had reached \u201ccrisis proportions\u201d, while three-quarters of its research respondents had encountered misogynistic or violent content as well as content promoting dangerous challenges. She said \u201ccaustic language\u201d, such as encouragement to self harm, was also becoming more commonplace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe this can serve as a signal to all parents that they can take tangible actions with their kids, to start the chat and delete the apps, and to reinforce that the government is backing them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d5b3e17e-eff8-4e28-bc8b-d7c7a944925d\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tech","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}