Latest news with #InmanGrant
Sky News AU
14-07-2025
- Sky News AU
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant published children's cartoons to YouTube before calling for a ban
The powerful regulator lobbying Labor to ban kids from YouTube has used the same platform to publish a series of children's cartoons on internet safety. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant was last week accused of misleading Australians after her crusade to have children banned from YouTube was not supported in her own research. Now it can be revealed that even Ms Inman Grant's office used YouTube to educate children as part of her own social media publishing strategy. eSaftey, which costs taxpayers $51.1 million a year to run with 160 staff, has a lively YouTube page featuring videos with cartoon animals and kid-friendly animations to educate children. In late 2022, while Ms Inman Grant was in charge of the body, a series of videos called 'eSafety Mighty Heroes' including characters such as Dusty the frilled neck lizard, River the sugar glider, Billie the bilby, and Wanda the echidna was released on the same day - content clearly published with the intent to educate children. It is not clear why Ms Inman Grant took such a dramatic U-turn on the issue, but it is understood that Chinese owned social network TikTok, which is banned from government devices, has been aggressively lobbying both the eSafety commissioner and Labor to include YouTube in the ban. YouTube has publicly argued that the video sharing platform is an important educational tool for children. The company points to an IPSOS study from August, 2024 which showed '94% of teachers surveyed globally have used YouTube in their role as a teacher'. The report also found that '84% of teachers surveyed in Australia say YouTube helps students to continue to learn outside of the classroom'. The official eSafety YouTube account, which hasn't been active since February 2024, has published more than 470 videos, many of which appear designed to target children. Dozens of other animated videos have also been shared on the eSafety account, warning of online safety threats, as well as posting basic instruction guides such as teaching how to listen to podcasts or connect to Wi-Fi on iPads and how to make a video call on FaceTime. Ms Inman Grant has been pushing Labor Minister Anika Wells to ban 15-year-olds from YouTube claiming she was following research. Ms Grant alleged research proved YouTube was 'driving users down rabbit holes they're powerless to fight against'. "I don't make determinations or write recommendations to the minister based on whether I keep the public onside. I follow the evidence," she said, to a room full of journalists last month. "My main concern with these platforms is that harms are happening, but I talked about the pervasive design features. "YouTube has mastered those. Opaque algorithms driving users down rabbit holes they're powerless to fight against." Ms Grant repeatedly refused to release that research until lodged a Freedom of Information request. A few days later the documents were published by eSafety but rather than comprehensive research, it was merely a survey. The results of the survey also painted a very different picture. There was no mention of 'opaque algorithms' or 'rabbit holes' anywhere in the 23-page document. In fact, it found that YouTube was one of the safest platforms for key risk concerns such as grooming, sexual harassment and bullying. Children are more likely to be bullied via text messages than on YouTube.
Sky News AU
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Strong fears held for children's entertainment over 'misguided' attempts from eSafety commissioner to have YouTube included in social media ban for kids
As Australia awaits the Labor government's decision as to whether or not children will be banned from YouTube, a prominent content creator has explained why following the eSafety Commissioner's "misguided" advice would be a big mistake. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant recently argued that children should be banned from the video streaming platform in her speech to the National Press Club. Ms Inman Grant claimed she had written to Communications Minister Anika Wells encouraging children be banned from YouTube because of the evidence. 'I don't make determinations or write recommendations to the minister based on whether I keep the public onside, I follow the evidence,' she said last Tuesday. If the Albanese government decides to heed the advice of the commissioner, YouTube will be restricted by sweeping new legislative changes without having an opportunity to provide a counter argument. A decision by Labor is imminent, but the creator of the mega-popular Bounce Patrol channel for children on YouTube says she feels like the process is being rushed through with minimal consultation with stakeholders. Shannon Jones, the creator and executive producer of the Australian channel which has more than 33 million subscribers globally, said YouTube was exempted from the social media bans last year after consultation but that the government wording and decision-making appears to have changed, indicating a potential backflip is on the cards. "I reached out to them last year when they were first considering it and had some conversations then... and then this time around I've sent communications to the minister but haven't heard back because everything is just being done so fast, like it's all being considered and decided in the space of a week it feels like," she told "...Because it's getting so rushed through, all of the consultation that was done with stakeholders last year is not getting repeated and it seems like there hasn't been much conversation with stakeholders this time to learn all those nuances so that's been really disappointing as well. "And it seems like they've got a position that they're interested in pursuing." Australia's social media ban for children aged under 16 is set to come into effect in December 2025. The ban is set to apply to a number of popular platforms including the likes of Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. There is confusion though as to why YouTube has been suggested to be lumped under the ban, given it's not considered a form of social media and doesn't include any typical features of social media platforms that may be considered dangerous for children such as messaging, or exchanging images. YouTube also has safeguards in place to protect children online, such as restricted mode which filters out mature content, parental controls and age-restricted content. Research conducted by the Australian government found 85 per cent of kids and 68.5 per cent of parents said YouTube is appropriate for under-16s, whereas parents felt less comfortable about their children using social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram. Ms Jones is baffled why the video platform has been recommended to also be banned, stating the advice is "misguided" to "lump it in with social media". "I just think that this is a really misguided way to approach it, designed by people who don't really have a great understanding of how YouTube works and how all of the experiences are built for kids and how the safety guard rails are built and the sort of nuance of the way the platform works," she said. "From our perspective YouTube is not social media like kids aren't messaging each other, they're not posting selfies on made-for-kids content. You can't post comments at all. In supervised experiences, depending on the settings that the parents have set, you can't communicate or leave comments." The creator also believes the decision to include YouTube in the ban would do more harm than good for children as it would force them to use the app logged out, where the same safeguards are not in place. There is also no clarity over whether YouTube Kids would be included under the framework of a ban. "The Safety Commissioner's advice was that kids should use it logged out but the problem with that is YouTube has spent many years designing experiences for kids that put a lot of safety guard rails in place and then one of the few tech platforms that have really invested in that over the last 10 years like YouTube Kids are celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. "That's how long they've been working on these experiences and... (there's) no idea whether that would be allowed under this new framework for instance. "Even for older kids, the 13-17-year-olds for instance, YouTube's built the supervised experiences which have all these protections in place so it's things like there's no personalised ads, there's take a break reminders, there's limitations on certain harmful content. "These tools that exist the parents can create these supervised accounts would no longer be allowed to be used and kids would be forced to use it logged out instead according to the Safety Commissioner's suggestions and that experiences has got no guard rails in place so that's where you have no limitations on what you can see, what path it goes down." Bounce Patrol has more subscribers than other Australian creator on YouTube, highlighting the demand for children's content Down Under. If a ban were to affect YouTube, it would mean that along with other creators, it would no longer thrive to the same extent. It would also provide a huge roadblock to young entrepreneurs with a dream to pursuing a career as a creator at a young age. For example, the likes of 13-year-old Ryan Kaji's channel Ryan's World with more than 38.3 million subscribers, would essentially become obsolete if it was run from Australia. If a ban was in place in the United States more than 15 years ago, Justin Bieber may have taken several more years to be discovered before becoming the pop star he remains to be. Ms Jones said a ban would also isolate Australia in becoming a country to introduce such a draconian measure for children, saying the platform is "not banned anywhere else" and that it demonstrates a lack of understanding as to how YouTube works. "It says that we don't really understand what YouTube is which is a library of high-quality video content," she said. "Most of the families who watch Bounce Patrol content in Australia watch it as a shared experience in the lounge room together "And what that tells you is YouTube is more like Netflix than it is like Instagram and lumping it in and saying this is not a video service, this is a social media service is just really misguided in terms of understanding how people actually use the platform." These fears are also held by 'The Mik Maks', the creators of a channel with 8.5 million subscribers and 7.9 billion views. "As former classroom teachers," they told Sky News, "we've seen firsthand the value of using YouTube videos in early years education. If parents and educators are forced to access made-for-kids content without signing in, children will be more likely to encounter lower-quality or unvetted videos. Our videos have been shared over one million times because they are trusted by parents and teachers. A one-size-fits all ban doesn't make any sense'.
Sky News AU
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant sits on research underpinning demands for YouTube ban under social media laws
The powerful bureaucrat lobbying for Labor to ban kids from YouTube has refused to hand over research she claims underpins her recommendation. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant recently argued that children should be banned from the video streaming platform in her speech to the National Press Club. Ms Inman Grant claimed she had written to Communications Minister Anika Wells encouraging children be banned from YouTube because of the evidence. 'I don't make determinations or write recommendations to the minister based on whether I keep the public onside, I follow the evidence,' she said last Tuesday. However, can reveal that Ms Inman Grant is refusing to publicly release the full research. Ms Inman Grant and her office have also refused to send the research to YouTube, leaving the streaming platform unable to fact-check or dispute claims which have been sent to the minister. If Ms Inman Grant's lobbying is successful, YouTube will be restricted by sweeping new legislative changes without having an opportunity to provide a counter argument. A decision is expected to be made by Labor in the coming weeks. An eSafety spokesperson claimed that they had 'responded' to stakeholder requests but acknowledged they have not published the full findings from their research. When asked to provide the research in the interest of transparency, the regulator declined, and instead said the findings would be drip fed to the public in 'stages'. 'The data referenced in the Commissioner's National Press Club speech last week represented a subset of a broader study,' the spokesperson said. 'eSafety is publishing the results of this research in stages as part of its Keeping Kids Safe Online series.' The office of the Communication Minister told that Ms Wells was 'carefully considering' the advice and would consult with stakeholders. Ms Inman Grant's lobbying efforts put her at odds with the Albanese government, which previously ruled that YouTube would not be captured by the ban. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed in November, 2024, that YouTube would be exempted from the ban given its 'education and health support' content. The government's own research at the time found parents believed YouTube was suitable for young people. According to those findings, 85 per cent of children and around 70 per cent of parents considered YouTube appropriate for those aged 15 and under. YouTube, which has previously warned that including the platform in the ban would jeopardise access to children's content, has hit back at Ms Inman Grant's claims. Rachel Lord, Public Policy Manager for YouTube Australia & New Zealand said YouTube's exemption was grounded in extensive research. 'Today's position from the eSafety Commissioner represents inconsistent and contradictory advice,' Ms Lord said on Tuesday. 'We urge the government to follow through on the public commitment it made to ensure young Australians can continue to access enriching content on YouTube.' Children's entertainers, including The Wiggles and Bounce Patrol, have also previously lobbied against YouTube's inclusion in the ban. The beloved children's entertainers argued it would limit safe content for families and harm the future of local kids' programming. The office of the Communications Minister said that Ms Wells' priority was to protect children. 'The minister's top priority is making sure the draft rules fulfil the objective of the act and protect children from the harms of social media,' Ms Wells' spokesperson said. 'The law places the onus on social media platforms – not parents or young people – to take reasonable steps to ensure protections are in place. 'The Albanese government knows our world-leading social media delay will not be a cure-all for the harms experienced by young people online but is an unprecedented step in the right direction.' The social media ban for under 16s will come into effect from December, 2025.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Social media ban must look to future teen trends
The federal government plans to introduce its social media ban for under-16s by December. Announced to mixed reviews last year – parent groups were ecstatic, while mental health organisations have warned about the risk of isolating vulnerable teens and tech commentators questioned the data security trade-offs – the ban would eventually require all Australians to complete an age verification process to use Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social media apps. The exact parameters of the ban remain to be seen, and will need to pass parliament, but last week, the Herald reported eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant had advised the government to not restrict its new rules to specific social media platforms. Inman Grant is specifically seeking to include video platform YouTube in the ban, after it previously received an exemption due to its 'significant educational purpose'. According to the eSafety Commission's research, four in 10 young teenagers have been exposed to harmful content, such as eating disorder videos, misogynistic or hateful material, or violent fight videos, while watching YouTube. As the Albanese government finalises the details of its attempt to restrict social media on a national scale, the Sun-Herald believes it is extremely prudent to not include a discrete list of platforms the rules cover. Indeed, as Emily Kowal reports in today's Sun-Herald, there are emerging forms of online engagement driven by artificial intelligence, for which regulation should also be considered. Companion chatbots such as Replika and allow users to converse, call and exchange photos and videos with an AI 'friend'. The user can style this friend as their favourite character from a movie, a celebrity, or someone they know in real life. Loading It is not hard to see why child safety experts are concerned. The eSafety Commissioner said she had received reports of children as young as 10 spending hours on chatbots, which AI researchers say learn from their user, evolving to respond in ways to keep them talking for longer. Some bots are designed to be mean, others tend towards pornographic or other forms of conversation inappropriate for children. All collect information about their user, and few have any real mechanism to validate their user's age.
The Age
28-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Social media ban must look to future teen trends
The federal government plans to introduce its social media ban for under-16s by December. Announced to mixed reviews last year – parent groups were ecstatic, while mental health organisations have warned about the risk of isolating vulnerable teens and tech commentators questioned the data security trade-offs – the ban would eventually require all Australians to complete an age verification process to use Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social media apps. The exact parameters of the ban remain to be seen, and will need to pass parliament, but last week, the Herald reported eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant had advised the government to not restrict its new rules to specific social media platforms. Inman Grant is specifically seeking to include video platform YouTube in the ban, after it previously received an exemption due to its 'significant educational purpose'. According to the eSafety Commission's research, four in 10 young teenagers have been exposed to harmful content, such as eating disorder videos, misogynistic or hateful material, or violent fight videos, while watching YouTube. As the Albanese government finalises the details of its attempt to restrict social media on a national scale, the Sun-Herald believes it is extremely prudent to not include a discrete list of platforms the rules cover. Indeed, as Emily Kowal reports in today's Sun-Herald, there are emerging forms of online engagement driven by artificial intelligence, for which regulation should also be considered. Companion chatbots such as Replika and allow users to converse, call and exchange photos and videos with an AI 'friend'. The user can style this friend as their favourite character from a movie, a celebrity, or someone they know in real life. Loading It is not hard to see why child safety experts are concerned. The eSafety Commissioner said she had received reports of children as young as 10 spending hours on chatbots, which AI researchers say learn from their user, evolving to respond in ways to keep them talking for longer. Some bots are designed to be mean, others tend towards pornographic or other forms of conversation inappropriate for children. All collect information about their user, and few have any real mechanism to validate their user's age.
