Google Says Enforcing Australia’s Teen Social Media Ban Would Be “Extremely Difficult”

Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL.O) said on Monday that it would be “extremely difficult” for Australia to enforce a new law that bans people under 16 from using social media, warning that the government’s initiative would not necessarily make children safer online.

Governments and tech companies around the world are closely watching Australia, which is set to become the first country to prohibit social media use by anyone under 16 starting this December.

Under the proposed framework, social media platforms will not be required to conduct formal age verification. Instead, they will be asked to use artificial intelligence and behavioral data to make a reliable estimate of users’ ages.

At a parliamentary hearing on online safety regulations held Monday, YouTube Australia’s Senior Manager for Government Affairs, Rachael Lord, said that while the government’s program is well-intentioned, it could have “unintended consequences.”

“Not only will this law be extremely difficult to implement,” Lord said, “but it also fails to deliver on its promise of making children safer online.”

When asked whether Google was lobbying U.S. officials to raise the issue during Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Google Australia’s Director of Government Affairs, Steph Lovett, said that their American colleagues were “well aware” of the challenges the company faces in Australia.

In July, the Australian government added YouTube to the list of sites covered under the new law—reversing an earlier exemption granted due to its educational use—after other tech companies complained. Google maintains that YouTube is a video-sharing platform, not a social media site.

“A well-crafted law could serve as an effective tool to advance the industry’s efforts to keep children safe online,” Lord said. “But the solution to online safety is not to bar children from being online altogether.”

Instead, she argued, greater use should be made of digital safety tools and parental controls to guide children’s online experiences.

Concerned about the effects of social media on young people’s mental health, Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment in November 2024. The law gave companies one year to comply, setting a December 10 deadline to deactivate accounts belonging to underage users.