YouTube Avoids Australia’s Social Media Ban as a ‘Source of Education’ —TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat Call It Unfair

Key Takeaways

• YouTube will likely be exempt from Australia’s social media ban for minors.
• However, rival platforms have called the exemption unfair and anticompetitive.
• In response to a government consultation, Meta, TikTok and Snap voiced opposition to the exemption.

As Australian policymakers finalize the finer details of the country’s impending social media ban for minors, YouTube will likely be exempt due to its educational potential.

However, in responses to a government consultation, rival platform operators, including Meta, TikTok and Snap, have argued that the carve-out is unfair.

YouTube Exempt From Australia Social Media Ban

The text of Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Bill only offers a loose definition of “age‐restricted social media platforms,” leaving some flexibility for the precise determination of any given platform.

The government has proposed using its rule-making power “to exclude messaging, online games, services that primarily function to support the education and health of end‐users, and YouTube.”

An unpublished government discussion paper shared with social media companies cited research undertaken by the eSafety Commissioner to conclude that YouTube “is an important source of education and informational content, relied on by children, parents and carers, and educational institutions.”

However, other platforms have questioned that rationale.

TikTok Objects

In its response to the government’s consultation, TikTok pointed out that the 2021 research it used to justify exempting YouTube is “outdated.”

It also claimed that the research could just as easily be used to exempt Instagram or TikTok on the same grounds, arguing that “it is difficult to reconcile the research the Government has relied upon and their stated rationale for the proposed exemption.”

One key change in the past four years is the launch of YouTube Shorts, YouTube’s TikTok-style short-form video feed.

Similarities between the two platforms further exacerbate TikTok’s sense of injustice at their differential treatment. The company even submitted a table comparing both apps’ features to emphasize this point.

Meta Highlights YouTube Features

Like TikTok, Meta has criticized the government’s decision to exempt YouTube from the ban.

On a Medium account titled Meta Australia Policy Blog, the company argued, “YouTube has the very features and harmful content that the Government has cited as justifying the ban, including algorithmic content recommendation, endless scrolling, social interaction features, and persistent notifications.”

Moreover, Meta claimed that YouTube’s educational benefits would remain even if the ban prohibited teens from having accounts.

“The stated educational benefits are therefore not a logical reason for excluding YouTube altogether from the definition of age-restricted social media platform,” Meta said.

Snap Derides “Arbitrary” YouTube Exclusion

Although Snapchat operator Snap has not published its response to the government’s consultation, local reports suggest it made similar arguments to TikTok and Meta.

“We believe the eSafety Commissioner’s risk assessment should inform the government’s approach to exemptions from the law, rather than arbitrary exclusions for certain companies and platforms,” the company reportedly stated .