Social media apps demand re-evaluation of the Albanese government's media ban and YouTube's special treatment.

Tech giants Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, Snapchat and TikTok have urged Australia to reconsider a decision to exempt Alphabet's YouTube from its laws banning social media for children younger than 16.

The federal government has been accused of making a "sweetheart deal" to exempt YouTube from the teen social media ban, as YouTube's competitors kick off a co-ordinated public campaign against the move.

Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat are challenging Australia's decision to exempt YouTube from its strict social media ban for users under 16, arguing that the platform poses similar risks and that regulations should be applied equally across all social media companies.

Tech companies like Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok urge Australia to apply its social media ban law consistently, criticizing the exemption of YouTube. This law forbids social media access for children under 16.

Stuart Stephens, whose 13-year-old son Olly was murdered in 2021, has accused US tech firms Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Google-owned YouTube of causing his son “serious mental health harms” including “depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation [and] suicidality”.

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