YouTube Exceptions From Australia's Social Media Ban At The Risk Of Child Exposure On Hazardous Content

Australian Minister of Communications, Michelle Rowland (photo: x @ReclaimTheNetHQ)

JAKARTA The Australian government has granted exceptions to YouTube in new laws prohibiting social media access to children under the age of 16. However, mental health experts and extremism warn that this video sharing platform can still expose children to addictive and harmful content.

Australia will block access to TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and X for minors before the end of 2025. These platforms are required to impose strict age restrictions or face large fines. However, the government still allows access to YouTube because it is considered a valuable educational tool and not a "core social media app."

The decision to exclude YouTube from this ban comes after the government heard input from corporate executives and child content creators. "Although YouTube serves as a source of entertainment, it is also an important source of education and information relied on by children, parents and educational institutions," said a spokesman for the Minister of Communications, Michelle Rowland, quoted by VOI from Reuters.

However, six researchers of extremism and mental health say this exception has the potential to weaken the government's main goal of protecting children from harmful content.

The survey shows that YouTube is the most popular social media platform among Australian teens, used by 9 out of 10 children aged 12-17 years. Academiasts claim that this platform still presents malicious content, similar to those found on banned sites.

"YouTube is very problematic, not only because of its role in spreading extremism, violent content and pornography, but also because its algorithm presents addictive videos to children," said Lise Waldek, a lecturer at Macquarie University Department of Security and Criminology Studies.

Helen Young, a member of the Addressing Violence Extreme and Radicalization to Terrorism Network, also highlighted that the YouTube algorithm "drives extreme right-wing content, both racist and misogynistic, to users identified as boys and teenage boys."

Academics question why the platform most used by children is exempt from bans, even though all social media face challenges in controlling the flow of harmful content.

To test the YouTube algorithm, Reuters created three accounts with the child's fictitious name under 16 years old. The results show that sex-related searches and COVID-19 lead to misogynistic content and extreme conspiracy theories in less than 20 clicks. Meanwhile, searches on "European History" lead to racist content after 12 hours of regular tracing.

The search that deliberately targets misogynist and racist commentators has always led to malicious content in less than 20 clicks. Reuters shared the methodology and results with YouTube, which stated it would review the material found.

Reuters also tagged six videos that appeared in this experiment. YouTube then deleted a video of an interview with a neo-Nazi Australian leader for violating rules about hate speech. An account promoting misogini is also closed. However, four other videos remain online.

YouTube insists it has "strict policies that prohibit hate speech, harassment, and violent or graphical content" and continues to improve its automatic detection system to identify harmful content. However, the company did not provide further comment on videos still available on its platform.