Australia bans kids from signing up for YouTube accounts, angering Google
- Reference: 1753857126
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/07/30/australia_kids_socials_signup_ban_extended/
- Source link:
The decision, [1]announced today by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, alters the 2024 decision to exclude YouTube from the regime that will require Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X to use age verification technology to ensure that kids cannot sign up for accounts.
Australia’s plan, which comes into force in December, is not to ban kids from using social media. The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids through their accounts.
[2]
Or as Minister for Communications Anika Wells put it: “We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”
[3]
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Kids will therefore be free to use social media using accounts created by adults, or without an account at all – which is possible on YouTube – or using curated services like YouTube Kids that attempt to guarantee a child-safe experience.
The policy is flawed because it means kids can use social media while logged into accounts established by others and encounter plenty of harmful content. Albanese therefore pitched the policy as part of an ongoing co-operation between Australia’s government and social media operators.
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“We want this to be cooperative,” he said. “We make this point, that social media does have a social responsibility and they also need a social license.”
“We acknowledge that this is not going to be simple or easy … some of this will be inevitably a work-in-progress, a response. Like, if people are trying to get around it, how do we then respond?”
Asked if the government has any non-negotiable elements in its plans to regulate social media, Albanese said that ahead of Australia’s May election platforms offered their platforms as a useful campaign advertising tool for “identifying women between a particular age in a particular seat, in a particular demographic, with particular postcodes.”
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A company with such capabilities, the PM argued, can “use the capacity which we know that they have” to protect children.
[7]Australia’s attempt to join the space race lasts just 14 seconds
[8]Aussie businesses now have to fess up when they pay off ransomware crims
[9]New Zealand kind-of moves to ban social media for under-16s, require age checks for new accounts
[10]China turns on ‘minors mode’ that ensures kids only see wholesome socialist content online
Google isn’t happy that Australia’s government changed its mind about regulating YouTube, and says it “will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government.”
YouTube has also bought outdoor ads and even used old-school newspaper ads to advance the argument it is not a social media company. In a [11]statement posted online a spokesperson says “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 TV screens. It’s not social media.”
That last point about not being social media misses the point, because Australia’s policy is to reduce the harms posed by all online media. YouTube’s argument that Australia changed its mind is also hollow, because the nation’s online safety regulator advised the government that YouTube is a major source of harm for kids down under.
Albanese proudly described his government’s approach as “world-leading”.
And that’s what Google fears, because if Australia’s plans succeed it will mean fewer kids acquire YouTube and disrupt the flow of data into the web giant’s info-hoard, first down under and then perhaps elsewhere.
But before that outcome eventuates, Australia must decide on what age verification technology is most appropriate to bring its laws to life. And at the time of writing, the government [12]knows those technologies are flawed and may further weaken the impact of its laws. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-parliament-house-canberra-36
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aIntPIe4zh5Wk6bfViXPTwAAANM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aIntPIe4zh5Wk6bfViXPTwAAANM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aIntPIe4zh5Wk6bfViXPTwAAANM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aIntPIe4zh5Wk6bfViXPTwAAANM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aIntPIe4zh5Wk6bfViXPTwAAANM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/30/gilmour_space_australia_test_flight/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/31/australian_ransomware_reporting/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/new_zealand_kids_social_ban/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/02/china_minors_mode_enabled/
[11] https://blog.google/intl/en-au/company-news/outreach-initiatives/statement-on-youtubes-inclusion-in-social-media-ban/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/20/australia_age_assurance_trial_findings/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Oh bless
I believe Germany and other EU countries already have this policy, so I can't understand what Google are bleating about.
I’m almost 4 multiples of 16
Do I also have to “prove” I’m over 16?
I’ve had an account longer than that.
Do they even have a plan?
Re: I’m almost 4 multiples of 16
I'm a little more than that and I keep having to prove it to access OAP pricing. That, in many ways, is similarly intrusive - ideally, you'd have a system that could prove your entitlement without compromising your privacy - but generally people don't mind as they tend to have their face with them anyway when they're boarding a bus or entering a theatre.
In any case, you don't actually have a great deal of privacy if you purchase something: if you pay in cash you will be observed and possibly filmed unobtrusively by the vendor. If you pay by other means you leave a trail.
The problem really is that we're hooked on 'free' stuff and largely unaware that we're not nearly as anonymous online as we might imagine. If it was necessary to pay for YouTube then age verification would be a much simpler problem and the payer could create access for minors with appropriate restrictions. Of course, YouTube wouldn't exist if it had to be paid for and that's why this is all a bit Alice in Wonderland: we're getting into all sorts of contortions to preserve the profits of a megacorporation that provides services we ostensibly value at zero. It's hardly a surprise it's an insoluble problem.
"The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
So instead they try to force the tracking of every adult...
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
At least, someone thought of the kids. But how about a ban to track users' behaviour altogether? If this renders their business model unsustainable, well, I'm not going to cry.
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
We're going to have to go back to paying cash for grumble mags at the corner shop like our grandfathers did.
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
Hey that's boosting the local economy, that is!"
Money goes to the local shop, to the distributor, to the paper mills, and all the way back to the Lady of Negotiable Affection hidden behind the plain covers of the Grumble mag in question. That's infinitely preferable to all the money going to Google after all...
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
Who ever paid cash for a grumble mag? Shirley all y'all "found" them, usually stuffed into a local hedgerow or the like.
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
Who ever paid cash for a grumble mag? Shirley all y'all "found" them, usually stuffed into a local hedgerow or the like.
It's like fruit - some people like to get theirs directly from the tree or bush as nature intended. Some people are simply too busy and have to buy it from a shop.
Re: "The nation’s leaders instead want to stop social media services from tracking kids "
I am old enough that hedgeporn contained bush, yes.
" Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens."
So what they are saying is that they should be regulated as a traditional tv broadcast service! Excellent, they can bring in the 9pm watershed on rated content. Be held responsible for breaching codes of practice with what is "broadcast" to people's tv's. Face fines for excessive advertising, or breaching neutrality standards in news services...
Maybe they should think a little bit more carefully about what they are wanting to be known as. If you claim not to be a), because you're more like b), then dont be suprised if you start getting regulated like b)...
“We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”
That is surprisingly well put.
Unfortunately, I have yet to see an age verification system that actually works.
Re: “We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”
Maybe the parents are the best age verification method!
Re: “We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”
"Maybe the parents are the best age verification method!"
But that would require parents actually parenting ... and the Australian Gubmint apparently doesn't think that Australian parents are capable.
Re: “We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are.”
Show me a mobile which can be run in an age-appropriate mode under control by the parents.
All of them will let children create and log into a second account where they've said their DOB is over 18 years ago and Google/Meta/etc... know this.
Parents have been unable to parent because [1]Big Tech has spent years undermining them to get the next generation hooked and the result is the shitshow you see here.
[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/90900166/tech-social-media-protection-children
Out of curiosity, how are the ID verification requirements for porn sites going for those US states that mandated them? How many people are actually proving their ID to porn sites, how many are using VPNs, and how many are going to other porn sites that are flouting the requirements?
I saw one site have some stats up saying there was 91% drop in traffic from territories requiring ID verification.
TBH it's so easy to work around the block I'm shocked it's that low.
YouTube Kids that attempt to guarantee a child-safe experience
I've already seen a lot of very adult (no nudity) stuff marked as "for kids" and the content creators themselves saying "this is NOT for kids, I told YouTube so"
So that's a complete failure already.
Re: YouTube Kids that attempt to guarantee a child-safe experience
It's always been bad, there is a lot of stuff which is disturbing and still available to kids because it doesn't meet some algorithmic trigger point.
Oh bless
It's not been a good couple of weeks for Google and Meta with the EU changing the rules around political ads and now Oz blocking under 16s having youchoob accounts.
Good.