Photo: GDJ
The Trojan Horse expands.
YOUTUBE INCLUDED IN BAN
YouTube will be ‘banned for children under 16’ from December as part of the Federal Government’s new social media laws, it has been announced.
Despite being initially exempt when legislation was passed last year, the government has confirmed the online video service will be classified as an “age-restricted social media platform”, alongside Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and X.
The platforms will face penalties of up to $49.5 million if they fail to block sign-ups and active accounts belonging to users under 16 from 10 December.
Core arguments in favour of YouTube staying exempt from the ban are that the platform is often used as an educational resource by teachers, and with the uptake of viewership on connected TVs, it has taken on a role more akin to a streaming platform.
“Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It’s not social media,” the company said in a statement responding to the decision.
“The government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban.”
The parent company of the platform, Google, has written to Communications Minister Anika Wells stating they will consider a High Court challenge – adding a ban would diminish the “implied constitutional freedom of political communication”. Albanese has responded saying he will “stand up” against the giant.
Commentators have warned the push is rushed, vague and politically motivated.
University of Sydney lecturer in Media and Communications, Dr. Catherine Page Jeffrey, said she disagreed with both YouTube’s inclusion in the ban and “the legislation more broadly” – stressing the “important role” the platform plays in the digital lives of teenagers.
“Young people have a right to engagement in the digital world, and to simply live out parts of their lives online,” she added.
“Sure, there are risks – but the approach to mitigating these risks should not be excluding young people from these platforms altogether.”
I tend to agree with this sentiment.
As a young teenager, YouTube was one of the main platforms in which I learned about truths of the world – such as 9/11 documentaries – before it became censored like today.
Even then, there are still a variety of channels and series that cover ‘conspiracy’ content still all across the platform – just don’t mention anything regarding the medical system.
And they don’t like this at all.
This is because ‘protecting young people’ was never really the concern or aim of the legislation – it has always been about Digital ID by stealth.
Their only goal is to control as much of the free internet as they possibly can.
THE BIOMETRIC FIREWALL
Australia’s “world-leading laws” to ‘stop children and teenagers accessing social media platforms’ are due to come into force in December 2025, after the legislation passed parliament with bipartisan support last year.
Discussion: Online Safety Bill, Digital ID, Biometrics
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A 12-month buffer was built into the legislation to allow time for the e-Safety Commissioner to figure out how to implement the ban and the Age Assurance Technology Trial to finish.
While the ban only applies to young people, it will also require adults to verify their ages with social media providers, to the concern of many individuals.
The trial is being led by the Age Check Certification Scheme – a company based in the United Kingdom that specialises in testing and certifying identity verification systems.
It includes 53 vendors that offer a range of age assurance technologies to guess people’s ages, using techniques such as facial recognition and hand-movement recognition.
Who is running the trials for Australia’s social media laws?
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Earlier this month, a preliminary report from ongoing trials suggests everything is ‘robust and ready’ for rollout, and that there are “ no significant technological barriers preventing the deployment”.
Social media verification trial finds technology is ‘effective’ ahead of rollout
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Australia will follow the U.K, who passed their own similar Online Safety Act last week, requiring porn and other adult content sites to implement user verification mechanisms.
Not surprisingly, use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other circumvention tools have spiked in the U.K since the rollout.
The United States is also flirting with the idea of social media age verification.
In 2022, California passed The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act or AB 2273, which requires websites that are likely to be used by minors to “estimate visitors ages” to give them some amount of privacy control.
On March 23, 2023, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed SB 152 and HB 311 – collective known as the Utah Social Media Regulation Act – which requires age verification.
If they are under 18, they have to get parental consent before making an account on any social media platform.
Since then, multiple bills have been introduced or passed in multiple states, with discussions surrounding a type of national legislative plan currently in the works.
All across the world, Western countries are looking to introduce digital identification by stealth, as the very fabric of a free and open internet hangs in the balance.
When December comes along, all of us will wake up with a message to ‘verify your identity before using this website’ – and I hope many Australians reject it emphatically.
We cannot allow this WEF-driven agenda to seamlessly roll out without a fight.
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As much as I’d like to believe people will resist this age verification push (and some will), the majority on the other-hand will likely cave and submit to these intrusive measures (as they typically do). But time will tell!