Australia will use landmark social media laws to ban children aged under-16 from video-streaming site YouTube, a top minister said today, citing the need to shield them from “predatory algorithms”.

“We want kids to know who they are before platforms assume who they are,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said in a statement.

“There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.”

Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram until they turn 16.

The Government had previously indicated that YouTube would be exempt, given its widespread use in classrooms.

A spokesman for YouTube - one of the most popular websites in the world - said Wednesday’s announcement was a jarring U-turn.

“Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video-sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens,” the company said in a statement.

“It’s not social media.”

-Agence France-Presse