YouTube has pushed back hard after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant recommended the platform be included in a proposed social media ban for Australians under the age of 16, saying such restrictions would do more harm than good.

In a statement released Thursday evening, YouTube said restricting teenagers from logging in would undercut safety tools built specifically for young users.

“The eSafety Commissioner’s advice for younger people to use YouTube in a ‘logged out’ state deprives them of the age-appropriate experiences and additional safety guardrails we specifically designed for younger people,” said Rachel Lord, YouTube’s Public Policy and Government Relations Senior Manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner tries to sell her social media ban as innovation, but is anyone buying it?

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Lord also rejected the notion that YouTube should be treated like social media at all. “YouTube is not a social media platform; it is a video streaming platform with a library of free, high-quality content. eSafety’s advice to include YouTube in the social media ban is in direct contradiction to the Government’s own commitment, its own research on community sentiment, independent research, and the view of Australian parents, teachers and other key stakeholders in this debate.”

We SHOULD be scared of an unelected bureaucrat with the power of Australia's eSafety Commissioner.

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YouTube says its dedicated experiences for children — including YouTube Kids and teen protections like private upload defaults and wellbeing reminders — offer a safer environment than most platforms. It cited government research showing 85% of kids and 68.5% of parents view YouTube as appropriate for those aged 15 and under, unlike platforms like TikTok or Instagram.

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But Inman Grant, in her National Press Club address, pointed to an eSafety survey of 2,600 kids aged 10 to 15 claiming “around seven in 10 kids said they had encountered harmful content.”

Critics say this move is part of a broader agenda by Inman Grant to impose sweeping censorship powers. She has previously demanded social media platforms remove videos and posts — including footage of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a Melbourne woman’s tweet questioning a “Queer Club” at a primary school.

EVERYONE will be affected by Australia's under-16 social media ban.

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Others fear the push to ban platforms like YouTube is just the beginning, warning that Labor’s shelved "Misinformation and Disinformation Bill" could soon return under the guise of online safety — at the expense of free speech and parental choice.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has to go!

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