Harmful content outweighs educational content as YouTube falls under the social media ban

The Albanese government has decided to include YouTube in its world-first social media ban for under-16s. Initially exempt due to its educational content, the platform was added following advice from the eSafety Commissioner who identified it as a major source of harmful content exposure to children. An RMIT expert explains. 

Lisa Given, Professor of Information Sciences 

"The decision to include YouTube highlights the inherent challenges of trying to place a blanket ban on social media platforms.  

"While the legislation allows for exemptions for platforms that are educational in nature, there is significant harmful content on YouTube that is inappropriate for children to consume. 

"Harmful content is at the root of the problem, so the government should revisit its proposed digital duty of care legislation, which would hold tech companies to account for harmful content at its source. Until then, we will continue to see platform-by-platform decisions being made to determine what is (and is not) going to fall under the social media ban. 

"Children will still be able to access content online, use VPNs to get around the restrictions, or get access to platform content through other people, so we also need more education for parents, teachers, and children to navigate the complexities with this ban."

Lisa Given is a Professor of Information Sciences at RMIT University. She is director of RMIT's Centre for Human-AI Information Environments and the Social Change Enabling Impact Platform"