By Renju Jose
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tech giants Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, Snapchat and TikTok have urged Australia to reconsider a decision to exempt Alphabet’s YouTube from its laws banning social media for children younger than 16.
The landmark legislation setting some of the world’s most stringent limits on social media was approved by Australia’s parliament in November, forcing such firms to bar log-ins by minors, or pay fines of up to A$49.5 million ($31 million).
YouTube stands to be exempted from the ban set to take effect by the end of the year as it is considered a key educational tool and is the only service allowed for children as part of a family account with parental supervision rights.
But Meta said a young person with a YouTube account experiences the features outlined by the government to justify the ban, including algorithmic content recommendations, social interaction features and exposure to harmful content.
“YouTube’s exemption is at odds with the purported reasons for the law and we call on the government to ensure equal application of the law across all social media services,” it said in a blog posting on Wednesday.
TikTok is concerned that exempting YouTube from the minimum age rule would result in a law that is “illogical, anticompetitive, and short-sighted”, it told the government in a submission, urging consistency for all social media platforms.
Snapchat said no specific company should receive preferential treatment.
“There must be a fair and impartial application of exclusions and all services should be held to the same standard,” Snap Inc said in a submission on Friday.
Some mental health and extremism experts told Reuters YouTube exposes children to addictive and harmful content as it hosts the same sort of dangerous content as other sites.
In public online statements, YouTube has said its moderation effort is getting more aggressive, while it has broadened its definition of harmful content picked up by its automated detection system.
($1=1.6111 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
