This morning on Triple M’s Mick in the Morning, Mick Molloy responded to the Federal Government’s proposed crackdown on social media use for under-16s, of which Nova 969‘s Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli was a key campaigner, questioning how banning access to platforms like YouTube would even be enforced.

Speaking with co-hosts Nick Riewoldt, Titus O’Reily, and Rosie Walton, Mick who has twin 13-year-old boys, backed the intent of the decision but described the YouTube ban as “problematic” with the platform central to kids’ day-to-day lives.

Mick: “The intention is great, but how you police it and implement it… who knows? These are very big companies; they rarely lose. I’m all for it. The longer you can keep kids away from social media, the better.”

Nick: “Yeah, good luck. You’ve got kids in the hitting zone; I’ve got kids in the hitting zone. I’ve got a 10-year-old.”

Mick: “My boys are 13. The banning of YouTube for kids under 16 is problematic for me. Every kid I know doesn’t watch TV – they don’t watch anything – they get all their dietary requirements from YouTube. Banning YouTube? I can’t see it.”

Nick: “YouTube feels different because you’re not interacting with other people directly, you’re consuming content. Whereas Instagram and all the other ones, there’s an opportunity to connect with people and talk to people and send messages to people.”

Titus: “It doesn’t even make sense… they’re saying you can’t have an account, but you can still watch YouTube completely as a guest. So, what they’re saying is they’re not going to let young people create content or have their own account that YouTube can track.”

Nick: “The kids are on YouTube all the time, mostly watching videos of other kids doing stuff and playing computer games.”

You can listen to the chat above and to Mick in the Morning with Roo, Titus & Rosie on Melbourne’s 105.1 Triple M from 6-9am each weekday, also on LiSTNR.