Australia has picked a fight with the world’s largest video platform by backtracking on an earlier promise to exclude YouTube in its social media ban for children under 16.

YouTube will be included in Australia’s social media ban for children under 16 years of age, an about-face by officials after the Google-owned video site had initially been left out of the ...

Australia said on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) it will include Alphabet-owned YouTube in its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the video-sharing ...

The Australia YouTube ban for children under 16 follows a similar move the country announced last year, which banned them from using Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc.’s ...

Australia will impose a minimum age requirement for YouTube accounts, prohibiting users under 16 from signing up starting 10 December. This decision follows findings of online harm to children.

A phonics check could improve Australian literacy standards. www.shutterstock.com Explicit teaching of alphabetic decoding skills is helpful for all children, harmful for none, and crucial for some.