Australia’s upcoming ban on social media use for anyone under 16 has ignited a fierce debate, with YouTube openly criticising the new law as rushed and potentially harmful. The new rules, set to take effect on December 10, aim to block underage users from major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
But YouTube says the country’s world-first legislation could end up doing the opposite of what it promises.
Rachel Lord, YouTube’s public policy manager, said the move will “not fulfil its promise to make kids safer online” and may leave young Australians more vulnerable on the platform.
According to Lord, parents, guardians and educators have also expressed deep concern over the consequences of cutting tens of thousands of young users off overnight.
Initially, YouTube was expected to avoid the ban because many children rely on it for educational content. But in July, the government pivoted, arguing that young users needed to be protected from what it called “predatory algorithms”.
On December 10, all Australian YouTube accounts belonging to users under 16 will be automatically signed out based on the age stored within their Google accounts. While underage users will still be allowed to browse YouTube without signing in, they will lose important features such as personalised settings, wellbeing tools and safety filters.
Lord stressed that the regulation misunderstands how YouTube works and how young people use digital platforms.
“At YouTube, we believe in protecting kids in the digital world, not from the digital world.”
The platform says it will archive affected accounts so teenagers can reactivate them once they turn 16. None of their data or uploaded content will be deleted.
But Australia’s communications minister, Anika Wells, dismissed the criticism as “outright weird”.
“If YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe and there’s content not appropriate for age-restricted users on their website, that’s a problem that YouTube needs to fix,” she said.
Globally, regulators are watching Australia closely. The country has become a testing ground for how far governments can go in policing social media access for minors.
Even authorities acknowledge that the rollout won’t be seamless. Some under-16 users will inevitably slip through the cracks as enforcement is refined. Still, platforms face hefty fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$32 million) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to comply.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has already begun disabling accounts based on user-provided age data.
At the same time, pushback is growing. The Digital Freedom Project has launched a High Court challenge, calling the restriction an “unfair” breach of free speech and digital rights.
