Australian minister’s ‘Sweetheart Deal’ for YouTube that angered TikTok, Facebook … – Times of India

YouTube got some help from an Australian minister to avoid the social media ban for teens in the country, which affected TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, a report claims. According to documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws, Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland reportedly gave a personal guarantee to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan that the platform would be exempted from the under-16s social-media ban even before the official consultation process on the special immunity. This exclusion of YouTube from the looming Australian restrictions has angered rivals, including Meta Platforms Inc. and Snapchat operator Snap Inc. Last month, TikTok described the exemption of Alphabet Inc.-owned YouTube as a “sweetheart deal” that was “illogical, anti-competitive and short-sighted.”TikTok-parent ByteDance has argued that YouTube’s short-form videos are “virtually indistinguishable” from its own. Commenting on YouTube’s exclusion from Australia’s age-limit rules, the Chinese social media company said that it “would be akin to banning the sale of soft drinks to minors but exempting Coca-Cola.”How Australian minister helped YouTube avoid social media banIn a letter dated December 9, 2024 (seen by Bloomberg), written days after the bill passed parliament, Rowland said to Mohan that she was writing to “reaffirm the commitment” to exclude YouTube from the new
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