Countries Restricting YouTube and Social Media for Kids (2026)
A sourced look at the regulatory landscape for youth access to YouTube and social media: Australia's under-16 rules, US federal and state laws, and the UK Online Safety Act.
Regulation of youth access to YouTube and social media varies widely by country, and even within countries. This is a reference for what is actually enacted and enforced as of 2026, not legal advice. Every row below links to its primary or best-available source.
| Jurisdiction | Law | Covers YouTube? | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Online Safety (Age-Restricted Social Media Platforms) Rules 2025 | Yes. YouTube is one of 10 designated platforms, alongside Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, Kick, and Reddit. Under-16s are signed out of YouTube accounts but can still watch YouTube while logged out. | Made July 29, 2025 (amended March 25, 2026); took effect December 10, 2025 |
| United States (federal) | Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), 2025 amendments | Indirectly. COPPA governs how platforms handle data from children under 13; it is a data-privacy law, not a content whitelist or account-age-verification mandate for YouTube specifically. | Amendments effective June 23, 2025; compliance deadline April 22, 2026 |
| United States (state level) | State app-store and social media minor-protection laws: Florida HB 3, Utah HB 464/SB 194 and App Store Accountability Act, Texas HB 18 and App Store Accountability Act, Louisiana HB 570 | Varies by state and is still being litigated. Texas's App Store Accountability Act was enjoined by a court in December 2025 before its planned January 2026 effective date, showing this area is legally unsettled. | Florida: Jan 1, 2025. Utah: May 7, 2025. Louisiana: Jul 1, 2026. Texas: enacted but enjoined pending its Jan 1, 2026 effective date. |
| United Kingdom | Online Safety Act 2023, age-verification duties | Potentially, where relevant content categories could appear. Ofcom began enforcement action in 2026, issuing formal information requests to 30 providers across 43 services. We were not able to verify Ofcom's exact YouTube-specific findings against its own primary report, so we describe this as an active enforcement area rather than a settled YouTube-specific rule. | Age-verification duties took effect July 25, 2025 |
Australia: Online Safety (Age-Restricted Social Media Platforms) Rules 2025
Under-16s must not hold accounts on designated age-restricted social media platforms. Platforms must take reasonable steps to detect and remove underage accounts. Penalties for platforms of up to AUD 49.5 million.
Source: eSafety Commissioner (Australia)
United States (federal): Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), 2025 amendments
Requires verifiable parental consent before an online service collects, uses, or discloses personal information from children under 13, with a separate consent requirement specifically for targeted advertising, plus new data retention and minimization limits.
Source: US Federal Trade Commission
United States (state level): State app-store and social media minor-protection laws: Florida HB 3, Utah HB 464/SB 194 and App Store Accountability Act, Texas HB 18 and App Store Accountability Act, Louisiana HB 570
Require age verification and/or parental consent for minors creating accounts on social media or downloading apps, enforced mostly at the app-store or platform level rather than a single federal standard.
Source: Baker Donelson legal analysis
United Kingdom: Online Safety Act 2023, age-verification duties
Requires "highly effective" age assurance on services where content like pornography, self-harm, suicide, or eating-disorder material could appear, including social media and video platforms. This is a content-risk-based regime, not a blanket under-16 account ban like Australia's.
Source: Overview citing UK government and Ofcom enforcement actions
What we did not include
We looked for an EU-wide rule comparable to Australia's but did not find a solid, enacted EU-level standard restricting youth access to YouTube specifically, so no EU row appears above. If you know of one, treat this page as a living reference rather than an exhaustive list.
Where a whitelist fits regardless of local law
None of the rules above give a parent an actual list of approved channels. They govern accounts and data, not content. A whitelist does that part directly, no matter what country you're in: you decide which channels a child sees, and Shorts, comments, and recommendations are simply not in the player.
If you're dealing with Australia's under-16 account rules specifically, we cover that in more detail in what the under-16 ban means for YouTube at home.
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