Received this message on my you tube account

Due to a new law in Australia, starting 10 December, users must be 16 or older to sign in to YouTube. This means they will lose access to like, subscribe, and comment on your videos.

YouTube access restrictions for users under 16 in Australia
Due to a new law in Australia, the minimum age required to sign in to YouTube in Australia is 16. This means that starting on 10 December 2025, users under 16 years old will be automatically signed out from YouTube. This includes any supervised pre-teen and teen accounts. We recognise this has important implications for users, and we encourage you to review your options below.

Note: Signing out of YouTube won’t sign you out from your Google Account or other Google services.
When signed out, you won’t have access to certain features, including:

Likes
Subscriptions
Private playlists
Memberships
If you have a YouTube channel, your channel will no longer be visible to other users, and you will not be able to access it, including:

Uploads
Comments
Earning money on YouTube

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TheSirfurryanimalWales · 61-69, M

Would a VPN overcome this?
I use one to see geo-blocked content on you tube( such as FIS skiing events)

Gusman · 61-69, M

@TheSirfurryanimalWales Yes, VPN will bypass.
But I am thinking that you tube will still be able to block under 16-year-olds.
My understanding is that youtube will/have started shutting down the accounts of the under 16-year-olds.
So a VPN will not work if the account has been shut down by youtube.

TheSirfurryanimalWales · 61-69, M

@Gusman How do you verify age?
And with a VPN installed can you set up a new account?
And there is loads of kids content on you tube.
I’m often prevented from putting a bit of sport on ‘watch later’ because someone has said it’s content made for kids.
And what about NextGen who routinely broadcast school sport worldwide?
I was watching a sixth form rugby match the other day.
There were two year elevens( sixteen year olds) playing.
Under these rules they would be prevented from watching back the game they had played in.
Banning under sixteens from social media is one thing…but including YouTube strikes me as being plain daft.
I read yesterday the British Government is monitoring VPN use after their recent introduction of age verification for adult websites.
I have no idea what that verification involves but it concerns me if they if they can monitor I’m watching foreign TV channels!

Gusman · 61-69, M

Too much there for me to unpack.
I just think it was a wrong decision.