Key Points
- Google says Australia’s new ban on social media for under-16s will be “extremely difficult” to enforce.
- The law, the first of its kind, is set to take effect in December.
- Companies will have to use AI and behavioral data to guess a user’s age, rather than strict verification.
- Google argues the ban won’t make kids safer and that better parental controls are the answer.
Google is pushing back against a new Australian law that will ban anyone under the age of 16 from using social media, arguing the rule will be “extremely difficult” to enforce and won’t actually make kids any safer online. The law, which is the first of its kind in the world, is set to take effect in December.
In a parliamentary hearing on Monday, a YouTube executive said that while the government’s intentions are good, the law could have “unintended consequences.” The biggest challenge is that social media platforms won’t be required to conduct strict age verification. Instead, they’ll have to rely on AI and behavioral data to guess a user’s age, a notoriously difficult and imprecise task.
“The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, but it also does not fulfill its promise of making kids safer online,” said Rachel Lord, a YouTube government affairs manager.
Google is also upset that its YouTube platform was recently added to the list of sites covered by the law. The company has long argued that YouTube is a video-sharing site, not a social media platform.
Instead of a blanket ban, Google says the solution is to give parents better tools to control their children’s online experiences. “The solution to keeping kids safer online is not stopping them from being online,” Lord said.
The law, passed in 2024 over concerns about social media’s impact on youth mental health, gives companies until December 10 to deactivate the accounts of underage users.
