As YouTube faces under-16 ban in Australia, marketers eye other channels

YouTube has officially been swept into the Australian government’s under-16 social media ban, and marketers are weighing the potential fallout.

The ban, which was legislated by the Australian Parliament in November 2024 and will take effect in December, aims to block children under 16 from holding social media accounts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and, now, YouTube.

Under the ban, those under 16 will still be able to watch YouTube content, but without an account they won’t be able to engage with it. That means no comments, likes, subscriptions or personalized recommendations. And for advertisers, it means losing the ability to target or track this audience through YouTube’s account-based tools.

“The inclusion of YouTube in the under-16 social media ban is a game changer,” says John Cucka, head of analytics at Kantar Australia. “Marketers will need to reassess its value proposition, especially for youth-focused campaigns that relied on its interactive features.”

“Social platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram have been central to youth engagement. Their ability to deliver high-impact, visual storytelling has made them indispensable — until now.”

The ban ill require social media platforms to introduce age verification mechanisms to stop users under 16 from creating accounts. Providers who don’t take “reasonable steps” to block underage registrations could face penalties as much as AU$49.5 million (US$32.3 million) for noncompliance.

The ad spend fallout

For advertisers who rely on interactivity through likes, comments and subscriptions, the ban will remove a critical feedback loop and conversion funnel. And by blocking under-16s from holding accounts, it effectively will cut off access to algorithmic targeting, personalization and audience tracking for this group.

That will no doubt impact budgets, according to Cucka.

“We anticipate a significant reallocation of ad spend,” he says. “Brands will shift budgets away from social platforms and toward channels that still reach under-16s effectively and compliantly.”

He predicts streaming services, gaming environments and even linear TV will be the beneficiaries of this regulatory shake-up.

“These channels offer immersive experiences that resonate with younger audiences,” he says.

Sarah Keith, managing director of Involved Media, doesn’t think a mass exodus of spend is likely — at least not yet.

“I suspect brands who are investing heavily on YouTube will maintain much of their spend in the short term and wait to see what, if any, impact the changes on all the social platforms the ban has,” she says.

A Harvard study underscores just how much is at stake. In 2022, YouTube counted 49.7 million U.S.-based users under 18, followed by TikTok (18.9 million), Snapchat (18 million), Instagram (16.7 million), Facebook (9.9 million) and X (7 million).

Together, these platforms generated nearly $11 billion in ad revenue from under-18s — including $2.1 billion from users 12 years old and younger and $8.6 billion from those aged 13 to 17.

While brands might take a wait-and-see approach initially, Keith expects media owners will seize the moment: “I do predict that traditional media owners will have a very loud brand safety message [toward the end of the year] onward to capitalize on the ban.”

Watching but not engaging

Brands likely to be less impacted are those that use YouTube more like a broadcaster than a social platform.

According to U.K. measurement body Barb, children aged 4 to 15 are the biggest drivers of YouTube viewing on TV sets — often on shared screens in a family setting.

That trend may give some marketers a reason to stay invested in the platform, albeit with adjusted expectations. Since accounts will be off limits to under-16s, advertisers will need to shift toward broader messaging and contextual placement rather than personalized targeting.

“Younger children may still access YouTube and other platforms through their parents’ accounts, so this will require marketers to consider a different approach to content and messaging,” Keith says.

“There will be some brands that [the ban] impacts, but the reality is that many brands are targeting families as a whole and not just those members under 16. There are still a number of ways and mediums by which to speak to younger audiences if brands need to.”

Even so, the fact that under-16s in Australia can watch but not engage could still complicate the value proposition for advertisers — especially those who depend on creators, influencers or user-generated content campaigns to drive impact.

“Brands will focus on creators who have a strong following among older teenagers [over the age of 16] and young adults or explore alternative avenues like family-friendly influencers,” Keith adds.

A new era for youth marketing

Beyond platform-specific fallout, the ban could force brands to overhaul the way they plan and measure campaigns aimed at younger audiences.

“This ban marks a strategic inflection point,” Cucka says. “Advertisers must now balance compliance, brand safety and audience relevance more carefully than ever.”

“Expect increased investment in first-party data, creative innovation and measurement sophistication. The media mix is about to get a lot more nuanced.”

As regulators elsewhere observe how the Australian experiment unfolds, marketers in other regions could also find themselves facing a new era of complexity: age gating, brand safety, household targeting and the return of traditional media as a safer bet.

Other countries haven’t yet proposed an outright ban of social media accounts for children under the age of 16, but increased safety measures are being introduced elsewhere. The U.K. recently implemented the Online Safety Act to protect children from harmful content and several EU member states have called for a minimum age limit to be able to access social networks.

Whether or not the ban becomes a template for other countries, it’s already forcing a rethink of how, and where, the industry reaches its youngest audiences.

“Advertisers and regulators around the world will watch with interest to see the lessons that can be learnt,” Keith says.