Australia’s online regulator called on the government to reverse its controversial exemption for YouTube from a social media ban for under-16s, an unusual intervention that echoes similar pleas from rival platforms including Facebook and TikTok.
The country’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said Tuesday she wanted the legislation to be “fair, consistent, and proportional.” Speaking on national radio, Inman Grant said fresh research showed Google-owned YouTube was the most-used social media platform and the biggest source of harm for young Australians.
“This ranges from misogynistic content to hateful material to violent fighting videos, online challenges, disordered eating, suicidal ideation,” said Inman Grant, who noted she didn’t expect YouTube to escape the ban in the first place.
“I was surprised, but my job isn’t to endorse the legislation, it’s to enforce the rules,” she said.
The law was passed late last year and will come onto force by the end of 2025.
Competitors including Snap and Meta Platforms, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, have long been angered by YouTube’s favorable treatment. Their exasperation grew after it emerged that the government had made a personal pledge to YouTube’s boss to exempt the platform, even before a consultation process on the carveout had begun.
In a blog post, YouTube said Inman Grant’s comments ignored the benefits YouTube offered to school students and teachers. “We urge the government to follow through on the public commitment it made to ensure young Australians can continue to access enriching content on YouTube,” it said.
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