YouTube has reacted to a new Australian law that will ban those under-16s from using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube starting December 10. The company says the law is swift, impractical, and will lead to a unsafer experience for children.
Public policy manager Rachel Lord said the new policy would not help with online safety, but could potentially cause more harm. She said many parents and teachers have expressed similar concerns.
Australia has announced that it aims to protect young people from “predatory algorithms.” As a result, all under-16 Australian users will be auto-signed out of YouTube starting December 10, using the age based on their Google account.
Children can still visit YouTube without an account, but they will lose features, including default safety settings. YouTube says it will lose wellbeing tools that would have helped protect young people.
Lord added that the new law misunderstands the use of the platform by young people. YouTube said their goal is to protect children in the digital world, not to hide them from it.
