MELBOURNE: YouTube has issued a strong warning to the Australian government against its proposed blanket policy to prohibit children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms. While acknowledging the government’s positive intent, YouTube argued that the measure will fail to enhance digital safety and could lead to significant “unintended consequences.”
The policy stems from an announcement last year by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, stating that the government planned to entirely block children under 16 from social media platforms by the end of this year.
Appearing before a Senate committee, Rachel Lord, a spokesperson for YouTube, advocated for the platform’s exclusion from the ban. Lord asserted that YouTube should not be classified as a social media platform and emphasized that the proposed legislation would be incredibly challenging to enforce.
“The intent is good, but we fear that there will be unintended consequences,” Lord stated. “The aspiration to make children safer online is not one that can be delivered through this single piece of legislation.”
Lord further elaborated that while well-crafted legislation is a useful tool to build upon existing industry efforts to keep children and teens safe online, “the solution to keeping children safe online is not to keep them off online.”
The details of how the ban will be implemented remain scarce, fueling ongoing debate both in favour and against the legislation. The penalties for non-compliance are severe: the e-Safety Commissioner would have the power to fine companies up to A$32 million (approximately US$49.5 million) for failing to meet the legal requirements.
Last month, the government indicated that social media giants would not be required to verify the age of every user, but they would need to take “reasonable steps” to identify and deactivate underage accounts.
