Meta, TikTok argue YouTube should be included in Australia's under-16 social media ban

Late last year, Australia passed a law banning social media for all people under 16 years old. Now, some of those companies — namely Meta, TikTok and Snap — are not happy at one exception: YouTube. Australia has deemed YouTube as a critical education tool and is allowing use, despite an original assumption that the Google-owned platform would be included, Reuters and The Guardian reports

This follows last month's report from Australia's eSafety Commissioner, which found that YouTube is the most popular platform with 13 to 15-year-olds — with just under three-fourths of that age range using it in 2024. Notably, anyone under 16 needs to be part of a family account that offers parental supervision rights to use YouTube.

Remarks from big tech were pointed. "It is illogical to restrict two platforms while exempting the third. It would be akin to banning the sale of soft drinks to minors but exempting Coca-Cola," said TikTok’s director of public policy in Australia and New Zealand, Ella Woods-Joyce. Meanwhile, Meta called out the Australian government for failed transparency and making "a mockery of the government’s stated intention, when passing the age ban law, to protect young people."

Snap reiterated its fellow platforms' concerns, stating, "There must be a fair and impartial application of exclusions and all services should be held to the same standard." At the same time, Snap is arguing that it's a messaging service and thus shouldn't be part of the ban. 

Australia's ban on social media for under 16-year-olds should go into effect towards the end of this year. Time will tell whether big tech's outrage will change its impact on YouTube. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-tiktok-argue-youtube-should-be-included-in-australias-under-16-social-media-ban-160220248.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-tiktok-argue-youtube-should-be-included-in-australias-under-16-social-media-ban-160220248.html?src=rss
Établi 2mo | 4 mars 2025, 16:30:29


Connectez-vous pour ajouter un commentaire

Autres messages de ce groupe

Our favorite Garmin GPS watch is $60 off right now

The Garmin Forerunner 165 watch

29 avr. 2025, 14:50:30 | Engadget
LlamaCon 2025 live: Updates from Meta's first generative AI developer conference keynote

After a couple years of having its open-source Llama AI model be just a part of its Connect conferences, Meta is breaking things out and hosting an entirely generative AI-focused developer conferen

29 avr. 2025, 14:50:26 | Engadget
WhatsApp is reportedly bringing voice and video calls to browsers

Microsoft will shut Skype down on Monday, May 5, in le

29 avr. 2025, 14:50:25 | Engadget
Yelp will use AI to help restaurants answer calls and make phone reservations

Yelp has announced new AI-powered call answering features for restaurants and services as part of its Spri

29 avr. 2025, 14:50:24 | Engadget
Amazon denies report that it plans to show tariff impacts on its prices

Amazon has refuted a report which said it was planning to tell consumers how much of a product's price was due to the impact of tariffs that the Trump administration has

29 avr. 2025, 14:50:22 | Engadget