Video platform: Australia wants to ban children under 16 from using YouTube

Australia plans to ban children under 16 from accessing the video platform YouTube to protect them from "predatory algorithms." "We want children to know who they are before platforms try to figure them out," Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Wednesday. "There's a place for social media, but there's no place for predatory algorithms that target children," Wells emphasized.

Last year, Australia announced the drafting of laws that would prohibit children under 16 from accessing online services such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

However, the government had previously indicated that the video platform YouTube would also be exempt from the regulation due to its widespread use in school lessons.

A YouTube spokesperson described the Australian government's announcement on Wednesday as a surprising about-turn. "Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video platform with a library of free, high-quality content that is increasingly being viewed on television screens," he emphasized. It is "not a social network," the spokesperson said.