YouTube Warns Kids Will Be Less Safe Under Australia Ban

Published: 03 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

YouTube has warned that Australia’s new social media ban for children under 16 could make the platform less safe for its youngest users. According to the video-sharing giant, the legislation, set to take effect on 10 December, will remove the platform’s “robust parental controls,” depriving parents of the tools they currently use to supervise their children’s accounts. These tools include content settings and channel-blocking features for teens and tweens. While children will still be able to view videos, they will do so without having an account.

Rachel Lord, public policy senior manager at Google and YouTube Australia, criticized the Social Media Minimum Age Act as “rushed regulation that misunderstands our platform and the way young Australians use it.” She added that the law would undermine more than a decade of work in building protections that families rely on for a safer YouTube experience. “Most importantly, this law will not fulfil its promise to make kids safer online and will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe on YouTube,” she stated.

Communications Minister Anika Wells, however, called YouTube’s warning “outright weird,” arguing that highlighting the dangers of its own platform was the company’s responsibility. “If YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe … that’s a problem that YouTube needs to fix,” Wells said.

The development comes as Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant turns her attention to apps like Lemon8, created by the developers behind TikTok, and Yope. These video and photo-sharing apps have recently seen an increase in downloads among teens. The Commissioner has asked these platforms to self-assess whether they fall under the social media ban.

Earlier this year, the Australian government reversed an exemption for YouTube from the ban. The eSafety Commissioner explained that YouTube was the most frequently cited platform where children aged 10 to 15 encountered harmful content, making regulation necessary. Despite pledging compliance, YouTube emphasizes that the new law could have unintended consequences, leaving children more vulnerable to harmful content without parental oversight.

With Australia’s social media landscape evolving rapidly, YouTube’s warning highlights the tension between legislation intended to protect young users and the practical tools that platforms provide to ensure safety online. As the ban approaches, parents, educators, and policymakers are closely watching how these new regulations will impact online safety for children.