In a speech to the national Press Club on Tuesday, online safety head Julie Inman Grant said seven in 10 children between 10 and 15-years-old have encountered harmful content on the internet such as hateful material, violent videos and promotion of eating disorders.

Inman Grant said research from the eSafety Commission found YouTube was the most cited platform where children had exposure to harmful content, with almost 40 per cent saying they saw dangerous material there.

YouTube will be exempted from a world-first ban on social media for children under 16 when it comes into effect from December, while sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will be off limits.

The eSafety commissioner said the social media laws needed to be consistent.

“It’s almost ubiquitous that kids are on social media. By far, the most prevalent social media site they’re on is YouTube,” she told ABC Radio on Tuesday ahead of the address.

“When we asked where they were experiencing harm and the kinds of harms they were experiencing, the most prevalent place where young Australians experienced harm was on YouTube.”

A spokesperson for YouTube, however, said calls for it to be banned, are a walkback from a public commitment for the video-sharing site to be exempted.

The site’s Australian public policy manager Rachel Lord said the eSafety commissioner had ignored other advice showing the platform was suitable.

“This recommendation is in direct contradiction to the (Federal) Government’s decision to exempt YouTube from the ban,” she said.

“YouTube is not a social medial platform, it is a video-streaming platform with a library of high-quality content, and TV screens are increasingly the most popular place to watch.

“eSafety’s advice goes against the Government’s own commitment, its own research on community sentiment, independent research and the view of key stakeholders in this debate.”

Inman Grant said she was surprised YouTube was not included in the Federal Government ban, but indicated her role was to enforce the legislation.

She said it was critical the social media ban be able to work effectively.

“We can have a lot of success with this world-leading law. The rest of the world is going to be watching. There’s a lot at stake,” she said.

“This is all about placing the onus back on the platforms, where it should be, and making sure that they’re not allowing under-16s from having an account.

“The time has come for them to take more responsibility and this is what the legislation will encourage them to do.”

Inman Grant says children as young as 10 are being “captivated” by AI chatbots, with many of the online tools also being sexualised.

Under the ban, social media platforms would be fined up to $50 million if the measures are not enforced.

The eSafety commissioner also used the speech to the National Press Club to warn about AI chatbots being used by young people online.

Inman Grant said children as young as 10 were being “captivated” by the AI chatbots, with many of the online tools also being sexualised.

“Schools reported to us these children had been directed by their AI companions to engage in explicit and harmful sexual acts,” she said in the speech.

“Just as AI has brought us so much promise, it has also created much peril. And these harms aren’t just hypothetical, they are taking hold right now.”

Regardless of social media bans, protecting young people online is also about education and open communication, Professor Kathy Mills, an expert in digital literacies at ACU’s Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, said in February.

She said knowing how to use digital media and the internet safely are critically important life skills for children, and the impact of online influencers and the evolving AI landscape are key areas warranting discussion and further education.

“Talk non-judgementally with children about influencers and encourage them to look for influencers who promote positive values,” Mills suggested.

A key skill children and teenagers need with GenAI chatbots and the internet, she said, is to read and think critically.

“Teach them to fact-check like a professional fact-checker by reading horizontally – that means they should always compare what they read to three reliable sources.

“Teach pre-teens and teens to ask three questions, ‘Who is behind it, what is the evidence for its claims, and what do other sources say?’”

(with AAP)