Google says Australia’s teen social media ban ‘extremely difficult’ to enforce

[Google Cloud]
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Alphabet-owned Google (NASDAQ:GOOG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GOOG])(NASDAQ:GOOGL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GOOGL]) on Monday said Australia’s new law banning social media use for those under 16 would be “extremely difficult” to enforce, warning it would fail to make children safer online.

Australia is set to become the first country to block social media access for minors when the law takes effect in December. Rather than requiring age verification, platforms will be asked to use artificial intelligence and behavioral data to estimate users’ ages.

At a parliamentary hearing on online safety rules on Monday, YouTube’s senior manager of government affairs in Australia, Rachel Lord, said the government’s plan was well-meaning but risked “unintended consequences.”

“The legislation will not only be extremely difficult to enforce, it also does not fulfil its promise of making kids safer online,” she said.

Asked whether Google was lobbying Washington to raise the matter during next week’s meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump, Google Australia’s government affairs director, Stef Lovett, said U.S. teams were aware of the challenges the company faces under the policy.

In July, Australia added YouTube to the list of covered platforms — reversing an earlier exemption due to its educational use — after complaints from other tech companies. Google maintains YouTube is a video-sharing service, not a social media platform.

"Well-crafted legislation can be an effective tool to build on industry efforts to keep children safer online," Lord said. "But the solution to keeping kids safer online is not stopping them from being online."

Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment in November 2024 amid growing concerns about social media’s impact on youth mental health. Platforms have until December 10 to deactivate underage accounts or face penalties.

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