Sydney, October 13, 2025 — Alphabet-owned Google has raised serious concerns over Australia’s proposed legislation to ban social media use for individuals under the age of 16, calling the law “extremely difficult” to enforce and potentially ineffective in improving online safety for children.
The comments were made during a parliamentary hearing on online safety rules, where Rachel Lord, YouTube’s Senior Manager of Government Affairs in Australia, addressed the implications of the new policy. The law, set to take effect in December 2025, would make Australia the first country to prohibit social media access for users under 16 years of age.
Under the proposed framework, social media platforms will not be required to conduct direct age verification. Instead, they are expected to use artificial intelligence and behavioral data to infer users’ ages. Google warned that this approach could lead to inaccuracies and unintended consequences, including the risk of misidentifying users and potentially excluding legitimate users from platforms.
“The legislation is well-intentioned, but it does not fulfill its promise of making kids safer online,” Lord stated. “It will be extremely difficult to enforce and may result in unintended outcomes that could affect all users.”
The Australian government has argued that the law is a necessary step to protect minors from online harm, including exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and exploitation. However, tech companies and digital rights advocates have expressed skepticism about the feasibility and privacy implications of the proposed enforcement mechanisms.
Critics also point out that without robust and transparent age verification systems, the law may place an undue burden on platforms while failing to achieve its core objective. Google has instead advocated for stronger parental controls, digital literacy programs, and platform-level safety tools as more effective alternatives.
As global attention turns to Australia’s pioneering move, the debate underscores the broader challenge of balancing child safety with privacy, access, and technological limitations in the digital age.
