YouTube has lost its exemption: Australia adds video hosting to teen ban

The Australian government has decided to include YouTube in the current ban on social media for under-16s from December 2025. The platform was originally exempt from the restrictions, citing educational value, but now a waiver from eSafety (the local digital ombudsman) commissioner has made an exemption impossible.

Here's What We Know

According to the aforementioned regulator, around 37 per cent of Australian children have encountered malicious content on YouTube - a higher rate than TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat. eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant reminded of additional risks: automatic playback, recommendation algorithms, constant notifications.

Social networks, including YouTube, must implement age verification for users and block children under 16 from registering - or pay fines of up to AU$49.5 million (US$32.2 million) per violation.

Reaction from Google and others

Google sees YouTube as a learning and entertainment platform, not a social network. Moreover, it has even hinted at a possible lawsuit against the government there. The conflict is also fuelled by criticism from competitors - Meta, Snapchat, TikTok - about YouTube's "chosenness" even before its formal inclusion in the law.

Context

The new online safety law was passed at the end of 2024 and will come into force in December 2025. Australia is the first country in the world to bring social media under the age threshold without exemptions - previously YouTube and Google Classroom were considered safe alternatives and were exempted from the ban.

Source: Bloomberg