Australia widens teen social media ban to YouTube

Australia said on Wednesday it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.

The decision came after the internet regulator urged the government last month to overturn the YouTube carve-out, citing a survey that found 37% of minors reported harmful content on the site, the worst showing for a social media platform.

The decision broadens the ban set to take effect in December. YouTube says it is used by nearly three-quarters of Australians aged 13 to 15, and should not be classified as social media because its main activity is hosting videos.

Since the government said last year it would exempt YouTube due to its popularity with teachers, platforms covered by the ban, such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, have complained.

They say YouTube has key similarities to their products, including letting users interact and recommending content through an algorithm based on activity.

The ban outlaws YouTube accounts for those younger than 16, allowing parents and teachers to show videos on it to minors.

Artificial intelligence has supercharged the spread of misinformation on social media platforms such as YouTube, said Adam Marre, chief information security officer at cyber security firm Arctic Wolf.