Australia’s online safety regulator has released research underpinning her call to not exempt YouTube from the under-16s social media ban, with a survey revealing the platform is the most used by children under 16, and the place where children are most exposed to harmful content.
It comes as Australian YouTubers push for the federal government to exclude the platform from the ban, after YouTube warned creators the ban could “affect how your work is valued and viewed”.
In a National Press Club speech last month, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, revealed she had advised the minister for communications, Anika Wells, that the government should not exempt YouTube from the under-16s ban from December. She said it was based on eSafety research showing 76% of 10- to 15-year-olds had used YouTube. The research also found 37% of those children who had seen or heard potentially harmful content online had found it on YouTube.
Inman Grant had faced calls from Sky News and the federal opposition to release the survey, which her office did on Thursday night. It backs her claims, and also reveals a younger cohort of 10- to 12-year-olds were more likely to be exposed to harmful content on YouTube – at 46%, compared to 27% for 13- to 15-year-olds.
The survey does reveal that teenagers were far less likely to encounter some online harms on YouTube than other platforms. These included image-based abuse (40% of respondents who had experienced it had done so most recently on Snapchat), grooming (Snapchat, 23%) and sexual harassment (Snapchat, 35%).
The difference in harms between platforms will likely be a focus for Australian content creators in pushing for the federal government to leave YouTube out of the ban.
Shannon Jones, the creator of Bounce Patrol – which has 33 million subscribers and 3m monthly views from Australia alone – said she had been in contact with the communications department this month to voice her concerns.
“YouTube is not social media, and I care deeply about kids and their watching habits and their online digital experience – I built my whole career around that, and I feel strongly that YouTube should not be included,” she said.
YouTube last week sent an email to creators warning that if the Australian government decided to reverse its decision to exclude YouTube from the under-16s ban it could “impact you, your channel, your audience and the broader creator community”.
“This could directly impact your channel … this could affect how your work is valued and viewed.” YouTube said changing course would “send a message that YouTube isn’t safe for younger Australians”.
The news came as a shock to the operators of several large YouTube channels in Australia that create content for children.
Alan McInnes, director of the Mik Maks, said he was feeling a “bit deflated” that the work to exclude YouTube last year might be undone. “YouTube have worked very hard over the last 10 years to ensure safer viewing for children online,” he said.
Tina and Mark Harris from children’s group Lah-Lah, who moved from broadcast TV to YouTube to make content during the Covid pandemic, said they were in disbelief about the potential ban. “A lot of TV producers are now coming over into YouTube,” Tina said. “It’s just taking away another platform for us. It’s very frustrating.”
Mark Harris said “just lumping in YouTube” with other social media companies considered to be harmful “risks eroding the confidence that has been growing in YouTube”. He said it would be a “great loss” for children to find engaging and educational content.
McInnes and the Harrises have written to the minister seeking to keep the exclusion. McInnes said the people behind the Mik Maks were educators and parents, with nine employed people in Australia . A “one size fits all” approach to the social media ban was not the way to go, he said.
The creators who run channels focused on younger children will likely not be directly affected by the ban – as children under 13 already cannot have an account, and their views likely come from parental accounts.
Inman Grant has flagged that children wanting to access educational videos can access YouTube without logging in.
But Jones said asking kids to access YouTube without logging into an account would be a worse situation.
“There are a lot of tools that parents can use with their kids … they can set a content setting,” she said. Parents can block channels, and forcing kids to log out would take away those controls, she added.
YouTube has previously enlisted creators as part of its lobbying over the social media ban. Guardian Australia reported in April that YouTube’s global chief executive invoked the Wiggles in a letter personally lobbying the then communications minister Michelle Rowland for an exemption less than 48 hours before Rowland announced the Google-owned company would escape the ban.
The lobbying of the government to keep YouTube’s exclusion is expected to intensify in the coming weeks, with Google set to hold its annual showcase at Parliament House on 30 July, in the second sitting week of the new parliament before the winter break.
The showcase often includes the creators themselves in attendance, with the Wiggles featuring last year.
