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YouTube has warned that Australia’s new law banning under-16s from social media will make children less safe online, claiming the measures will remove parental control features that currently help protect young users.
Under the Social Media Minimum Age Act, coming into effect December 10, children under 16 will no longer be allowed to hold YouTube accounts. They will still be able to watch videos, but only without signing in—meaning parents will lose tools such as content filters and channel blocking.
“Young Australians will be less safe on YouTube,” said Rachel Lord, Public Policy Senior Manager for Google and YouTube Australia. She described the regulation as “rushed” and warned that it undermines over a decade of work in building parental control systems.
Australia reversed YouTube’s earlier exemption in July after it was identified as the most common platform where children aged 10–15 encountered harmful content. Platforms that fail to enforce the ban could face fines of up to A$49.5m.
Communications Minister Anika Wells dismissed YouTube’s concerns, calling it “outright weird” for the company to imply its platform is unsafe. “If YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe… that’s a problem YouTube needs to fix,” she said.
Meanwhile, regulators are assessing whether fast-growing apps Lemon8 and Yope fall under the ban, with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant requesting self-assessment from both platforms.
From next week, all under-16 accounts must be deactivated across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Twitch, Threads, Reddit, Kick and others. Tech companies will also be required to file six-monthly reports detailing underage accounts.
YouTube Kids remains exempt from the regulations. Google has reportedly considered a legal challenge, though it has not publicly commented.
