News Investigation

The Woman Who Got YouTube Banned for Teens in Australia

Oct 2025 🇦🇺 TIME

TIME editor-at-large Belinda Luscombe profiles Julie Inman Grant around her decision to recommend that YouTube — originally carved out of Australia's under-16 social media law for its educational value — be brought under the ban after all. The piece traces Grant's path from tech-industry policy roles into government regulation, and quotes her comparing platform obligations to vehicle safety standards. It notes her office subsequently asked 16 more platforms, from Roblox to WhatsApp, to self-assess against the same rules, and situates her work in an unresolved debate — the article states plainly that some studies have 'plausibly linked' rising teen depression and anxiety to social media's spread, while other researchers say more research is needed. TechKids Foundation includes this piece as an account of how one regulator's scope decisions reshape a landmark youth-safety law.

Fines of about A$50 million (US$33 million)

The article reports non-compliant platforms face fines of almost 50 million Australian dollars, described as roughly $33 million.

More than 97% internet use

TIME cites more than 97% of the Australian population using the internet as context for why the country's social media policy choices carry outsized global attention.

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CITATION

Luscombe, Belinda. "The Woman Who Got YouTube Banned for Teens in Australia." TIME, October 8, 2025 (updated October 9, 2025). https://time.com/7320962/youtube-ban-australia-julie-inman-grant-interview/

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Aug 2025 🇺🇸 Tech Policy Press
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Aug 2018 🇩🇪 The New York Times (syndicated via New York Times News Service / WRAL)
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