Credit: Todd Cravens via Unsplash
Removing teen accounts from YouTube won’t improve online safety, the video streaming platform told a parliamentary inquiry.
Rachel Lord, public policy senior manager, Google and YouTube Australia, appeared today before the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee on the Social Media Ban.
“The government’s plan to ban social media use for under 16s may be well-intentioned but in practice risks unintended consequences,” Lord said.
“The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, it also does not fulfill its promise of making kids safer online.”
YouTube is included in Australia’s under-16 social media laws which come into effect December 10.
Digital platforms -- including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and now YouTube -- face fines of up to $49.5 million for failing to prevent underage account holders accessing their services.
Lord told the parliamentary inquiry that YouTube has invested heavily in designing age appropriate products and industry-leading content controls and tools that allow parents to make choices for their families.
“Forcing kids to use YouTube without an account removes the very parental controls and safety filters built to protect them,” Lord said.
“Across sport, music, creative learning and classrooms, YouTube is used by millions of Australian children to develop skills that support their education, growth and wellbeing.
“The proposed approach risks inadvertently impacting safer access to these valuable services and information important for kids’ learning and development.”
Lord said this new law fundamentally misunderstands what YouTube is: it’s a video streaming platform that Australians use as a content library and learning resource - it’s not social media.
“Well crafted legislation can be an effective tool to build on industry efforts to keep children and teens safer online,” she said.
“But the solution to keeping kids safer online is not stopping them from being online, it’s about making sure platforms have relevant guardrails in place and empowering parents with the tools and confidence they need to guide their children’s online experiences.”
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