YouTube warns that Australia’s new law banning children under 16 from using social media was rushed and will make online experiences less safe for young people. The company says the changes, which take effect on 10 December, will remove account-based safety tools that parents and educators rely on.
YouTube’s main concern is that under-16s will be forced to watch without signing in. While they can still view videos, they will lose the ability to like, comment, upload, or otherwise interact — and, critically, parents will lose account-linked controls. YouTube lists the lost protections as the ability to set content restrictions, block specific channels, control what types of videos a child can watch, and use wellbeing features like “take a break” and “bedtime” reminders. These settings only function when a child uses a signed-in account, so YouTube argues the protections vanish once accounts are deactivated.
Rachel Lord, senior policy manager at YouTube and Google Australia, said the company has spent more than a decade building family safety tools and that the new law undermines that work. She said parents and teachers share YouTube’s concerns and that the law “will not make kids safer online.”
Australia’s Communications Minister Anika Wells strongly disagrees. She called it “outright weird” for YouTube to suggest its platform is unsafe for children and said if YouTube believes that, it should fix the problem. Wells says the Social Media Minimum Age Act aims to protect Generation Alpha (those born after 2010) from excessive exposure to harmful material and addictive design features like endless scrolling and constant notifications.
Wells argues new technologies give children “constant access” to potentially damaging content, and described social media algorithms as “behavioural cocaine” designed to maximize attention. She says stronger regulation is needed to stop tech companies building products that keep kids hooked.
YouTube had initially been exempt from the ban, but the government removed that exemption in July after the eSafety Commissioner reported YouTube was the platform where 10- to 15-year-olds most often encountered harmful content. As a result, YouTube must follow the same rules as other social media services.
From 10 December:
– Anyone under 16 will be automatically signed out of their YouTube account.
– They will not be allowed to sign back in.
– They cannot comment, upload videos, or interact with content.
– They can only watch videos while signed out.
– Default wellbeing features like bedtime or “take a break” reminders will not function for them.
YouTube Kids, the separate child-focused app, is not affected and will keep operating.
YouTube says the law was passed too quickly, without adequate consultation or planning, and failed to consider the complexities of online safety. Reports indicate Google may consider a legal challenge.
Separately, Australia’s internet safety regulator is investigating two newer apps popular with teenagers — Lemon8 and Yope — to see if they should also be covered by the ban. Both apps let users share photos and videos and are being downloaded increasingly by teens.
Under the new rules, social media companies must:
– Deactivate accounts belonging to anyone under 16.
– Prevent under-16s from creating new accounts.
– Block workarounds and tricks to bypass age rules.
– Report every six months on how many underage accounts they identify.
– Face fines up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance.
The ban applies to major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter), Twitch, Threads, Reddit, and Kick. The government says the goal is to reduce underage users and lower the risk of harm.
The law has sparked a national debate. Supporters say it’s needed to shield children from dangerous content, predators, and addictive algorithms after tech companies failed to act. Critics argue the ban is overly blunt, misunderstands how young people use the internet, and will push children toward unsupervised access or workarounds that remove safety controls. YouTube is firmly in the latter camp, saying removing accounts will strip away protections and leave children “less safe, not more safe.”
The ban begins on 10 December. The government expects initial challenges but says the change is necessary and that its benefits will outweigh short-term problems. Tech companies must implement major changes and provide regular reports on underage accounts. Parents, educators, platforms, and safety groups continue to debate the best approach; the coming weeks and months will show how the law performs in practice.
Published: 3rd December 2025
