YouTube complies with Australia's teen social media ban, to lock out under-16 accounts

YouTube is moving to comply with Australia's new, world-first social media ban on users under the age of 16, announcing a "disappointing update" that will lock millions of Australian teen accounts within days.

The decision ends a period of resistance from Google, YouTube's parent company, which had sought legal advice after its platform was included in the age restriction despite initially being exempted for its use in education.

Starting December 10, viewers must be 16 or older to sign into YouTube. The company stated, "This law will not fulfill its promise to make kids safer online and will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe on YouTube."

Users aged under 16 will be automatically signed out, preventing them from subscribing, liking, or commenting on posts. Underage content creators will also be unable to log in or post new content. YouTube did not disclose its age verification process.

The move is being closely observed globally, as the Australian ban sets a potential precedent for how major U.S. technology platforms balance child safety with digital access.

The Australian government instituted the measure in response to evidence that platforms are not doing enough to protect children from harmful content. The law prohibits platforms from allowing under-16s to hold accounts, with penalties for breaches reaching up to A$49.5 million ($32.5 million). Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, and Snap (Snapchat) previously committed to compliance.

In response to the ban, Communications Minister Anika Wells challenged YouTube's position, stating it was "weird that YouTube is always at pains to remind us all how unsafe their platform is in a logged out state." Wells added that if YouTube acknowledges its platform contains content inappropriate for age-restricted users, "that's a problem that YouTube needs to fix."

The eSafety Commissioner reports that YouTube holds 325,000 accounts for Australians aged 13 to 15. The regulator also cited data showing that over one-third of Australians aged 10 to 15 have reported seeing harmful content on YouTube, the highest rate among all platforms.