A world-first social media ban is set to come into effect by December 2025, meaning Australians under 16 will no longer have access to a list of popular social media. Now, the Government has expanded the incoming policy to include a ban on YouTube.
The social media ban was announced in 2024 to include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X. At the time, the Government said YouTube would likely not be part of the ban partly due to its potential educational benefits.
A statement from the Albanese Government today said, “Delaying access to social media, including YouTube, until the age of 16 will protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.”
In November 2024, the proposal outlined that the responsibility of enforcing this age limit will fall on the social media companies themselves. Platforms are mandated to implement reasonable measures to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts.
Today’s statement continued, “Following extensive consultation and advice, age-restricted social media platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million for failing to take responsible steps to prevent underage account holders onto their services.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Our Government is making it clear – we stand on the side of families.”
“Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I’m calling time on it.”
“Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.”
YouTube responded to the announcement in a recent statement:
“We share the Government’s goal of addressing and reducing online harms. Our position remains clear: Youtube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content increasingly viewed on our screens.”
“It’s not social media,” the statement said.
“The Government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban. We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government.”
From 10 December 2025, this social media ban will take effect, with “all services that meet the definition of ‘age-restricted social media platform'” becoming subject to the social media minimum age law.
