YouTube will be included in the Australian Social Media ban for children under 16, . The country’s Labor Government said that the site will be subject to rules such as Facebook, Instagram, Taktok and X when the legislature is implemented this December.
Australia planned to exempt YouTube from the upcoming social media ban, on the basis that this is an educational tool. It eliminated other platforms, in which Meta and Techtok were excluded.
The move did not sit very well with the alphabet of YouTube and the parent company. A company spokesperson The platform “changes a clear, public commitment” by the government to treat the platform as an educational tool. YouTube Kids are not included in the ban because it does not allow users to upload videos or comment.
The government said that the ultra has been widely influenced by a survey released by the Australian Independent Online Regulator, the Asifi Commission. This has found that 37 % of children in the survey have reported to see harmful content on YouTube. This includes things like dangerous online challenges, fight videos and hateful rhetoric.
Communications Minister Anika Wells recently spoke to the Australian Parliament and said “YouTube uses the same conviction features such as other social media platforms, such as unlimited scrolling, such as auto play and algorithmic feed.” He added that it has accepted the results of the aforementioned survey and YouTube “should not be treated differently from other social media platforms.”
The ban was originally approved at the end of last year, though some details are still pending. The government has to finalize everything by December. We know that this ban puts on the original platforms to prevent children from opening an account, because if they do not comply, they will face a heavy fines of up to $ 50 million ($ 32 million) to $ 50 million.
Minister Wells said, “Children, God will protect them, will find a way around it. They may all be crowded on LinkedIn. We do not know.” My hitch is that it will be more VPN than LinkedIn.