The tech giants TikTok, Snapchat, and Meta Platforms, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, have encouraged Australia to reevaluate its decision to remove Alphabet's YouTube from its regulations prohibiting children under 16 from using social media.
The Australian government passed a historic law in November that imposed some of the strictest social media regulations in the world. The law requires businesses to prevent minors from logging on or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($31 million).
Since YouTube is seen as an important educational tool and is the only service permitted for children as part of a family account with parental supervision rights, it is likely to be excluded from the ban that is scheduled to go into effect at the end of the year.
However, according to Meta, a child with a YouTube account encounters the aspects listed by the government to support the ban, such as exposure to hazardous content, social interaction features, and algorithmic content suggestions.
"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," said Meta.
TikTok expressed its fear that allowing YouTube to be excluded from the minimum age requirement would create a law that is "illogical, anticompetitive, and short-sighted," calling for uniformity across all social media platforms.
According to Snapchat, no particular business should be given 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.
YouTube has expanded its definition of dangerous content detected by its automatic detection system and stated that its moderation efforts are becoming more harsh.