SYDNEY: Australia’s push to ban children from social media is well intentioned but will not make them safer online according to video streaming giant YouTube.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year unveiled landmark laws that will ban under-16s from social media by the end of 2025.
Popular platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram face heavy fines for flouting the laws.
YouTube, which will also fall under the ban, has argued that it is not a social media platform and should receive some kind of exception.
The firm’s local spokeswoman Rachel Lord told a senate committee the ban was well intentioned but would risk unintended consequences.
She said the legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce but also does not fulfil its promise of making kids safer online.
Lord stated that well-crafted legislation can be an effective tool to build on industry efforts to keep children and teens safer online.
She added that the solution to keeping kids safer online is not stopping them from being online.
Lord said the platform should be out of scope of this legislation because YouTube is not a social media service.
Australia has been a leader in global efforts to prevent internet harm but current legislation offers almost no details on how the ban will be enforced.
Some experts are concerned that the law will be merely symbolic.
Social media companies have previously described the laws as vague, problematic and rushed.
The eSafety Commissioner will be able to fine social media companies up to 49.5 million Australian dollars for failing to comply with the rules.
Last month, the government said social media giants will not be required to verify the ages of all users.
They must instead take reasonable steps to detect and deactivate underage accounts. – AFP
