Australia will use landmark social media laws to ban children aged under-16 from video-streaming site YouTube, a top minister said today, citing the need to shield them from 鈥減redatory algorithms鈥.
鈥淲e want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are,鈥 Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a place for social media, but there鈥檚 not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.鈥
Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram until they turn 16.
The Government had previously indicated that YouTube would be exempt, given its widespread use in classrooms.
A spokesman for YouTube - one of the most popular websites in the world - said Wednesday鈥檚 announcement was a jarring U-turn.
鈥淥ur position remains clear: YouTube is a video-sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens,鈥 the company said in a statement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not social media.鈥
-Agence France-Presse
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