YouTube deserves protection from this misguided ban because it serves as an essential educational tool used by 84% of Australian teachers monthly. The platform provides free, high-quality content that helps students learn both inside and outside classrooms, making it fundamentally different from social media platforms designed for endless scrolling. Government research shows 69% of parents consider YouTube appropriate for children under 15, yet the eSafety Commissioner ignores this clear evidence.
This is egregious overreach from Grant which places her in direct opposition to the Prime Minister, turning sensible protections into pure nanny state meddling. Parents, educators, and children's entertainers all came out and stated that they did not want YouTube to be banned for minors, one of the few platforms with safe content for the young. The government, of course, knows best, and is going against the wishes of parents.
YouTube being exempt from the restrictions on youth access are plainly preferential and make no sense whatsoever. YouTube is the most likely platform for the young to see harmful material, and evidence suggests that this exemption was granted after heavy lobbying on the part of the video hosting site. YouTube has similar features to platforms like TikTok and delivers the same addictive content. It is clear to see that YouTube must be included in the ban.
YouTube poses the greatest risk to children among all platforms, with 37% of kids encountering harmful content there including violent videos, eating disorder promotion, and misogynistic material. The platform's addictive algorithms deliberately push users down dangerous rabbit holes they cannot escape, making any exemption inconsistent with protecting children from social media harms. No platform claiming absolute safety can be trusted when children's wellbeing is at stake.
There is a 60% chance that Meta will settle the lawsuit brought by U.S state attorneys general alleging the platform(s) were designed to foster compulsive use by minors by March 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.