Communications Minister Anika Wells admits the social media ban is fallible but says it is “too important for us not to have a crack”.
Wells, speaking about the inclusion of YouTube in the ban, said evidence from the e-safety commissioner in June showed 37 per cent of kids had experienced their most recent or impactful online harm on the video platform, prompting its inclusion after initially being exempted.
Minister for Communications Anika Wells.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
She said it will be the responsibility of the platforms, not parents, to make sure children aren’t using social media from December 10.
“It means that if your kid has a YouTube login or another social media platform login, the platform needs to deactivate it, and the platform needs to take reasonable steps to make sure that kids don’t activate new logins,” she said.
YouTube does not require a login to use.
“These laws aren’t infallible,” Wells said. “None are, but this is about the chilling effect.”
She said the government won’t be deterred by legal threats, including the letter received by YouTube owner Google warning of litigation if the video streaming platform were to be included in the ban.
“We have had threats come in. But, you know, I’ve got sharp elbows. This is too important for us not to have a crack.”
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