Australia U-turn adds YouTube to child social media ban

Australia said on Wednesday it will add YouTube to the list of platforms covered by its ban on social media use by children under 16. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the reasons for reversing a previous decision to exclude the video-sharing service.

From December, the ban will prohibit under-16s from creating a YouTube account, but will allow parents and teachers to show them videos. Google responded in a statement, saying: "YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It's not social media." It also said it will consider the next steps and "continue to engage with the government."