YouTube will be included in Australia's social media ban for children after all

The Australian government has decided to include YouTube in its upcoming social media ban for children under 16. Initially, the government had planned to exempt YouTube from the ban, citing it as an educational tool. However, this decision was met with criticism from other social media platforms, and the government later reversed the exemption. The reversal was largely influenced by a survey conducted by Australia's independent online regulator, the eSafety Commission, which found that 37% of children surveyed had reported seeing harmful content on YouTube, including dangerous online challenges, fight videos, and hateful rhetoric. The government acknowledged that YouTube uses similar persuasive design features as other social media platforms, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic feed. As a result, the government has decided to treat YouTube the same as other social media platforms under the upcoming ban. The ban, which was originally passed at the end of last year, will require social media platforms to prevent children from opening accounts and face hefty fines if they fail to comply. The government has until December to finalize the details of the ban.