Google has warned that teenagers under 18 in Australia could be locked out of their Gmail accounts under the government's proposed Digital Duty of Care bill. The tech giant told an Australian Senate committee that the legislation could compel it to run age checks on Gmail, a concern it raised at a hearing on Monday that also drew objections from Meta, TikTok and Snap.

Why Google says email falls within the bill's scope

Rachel Lord, who heads policy for Google-owned YouTube in Australia and New Zealand, told the hearing that the problem lies in one part of the bill requiring age checks on any service where children could encounter pornography or fetish content. Lord argued the wording is too broad and could sweep in platforms that were never designed to carry such material, according to Reuters.

"This could require us to age assure and block access to everyday communication services like messaging, email and private file storage," she told the committee.

Lord said the rules could also affect Google Drive. Liberal senator Sarah Henderson asked whether Gmail and Drive might have to verify users' ages and scan their private emails, messages and files. Lord answered affirmatively, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Google maintains the rules should only cover services primarily used to share pornography. For under-18 users, the stakes are concrete: under the broad reading, keeping a Gmail account could hinge on passing an age check; under Google's preferred reading, email would sit outside the rules entirely.

The privacy clause that disappeared

Lord also said the bill does too little to protect privacy. She noted that an earlier draft released in September allowed companies to take privacy into account, but that provision was removed from the version now before the Senate.

"We're a bit confused about why it's been removed," she said, per the Herald. "There are no protections for Australian privacy when we're talking about what are effectively private communications and private file storage."

Under the bill, companies would be judged on how well they protect users and whether their actions match the risks involved. It does not mention privacy, and it states that cost cannot be cited as a justification for their decisions. That drafting choice is central to Google's objection: the wider the net of covered services, the more everyday private communications fall inside obligations written for content risks. Henderson called the bill "deeply flawed" and said it could force companies such as Google to monitor people's emails on a large scale.

What the bill does and where it stands

Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced the Digital Duty of Care bill on October 15. It would require online companies to prevent harm before it occurs, with companies that fail to comply facing fines of up to A$109 million (about US$75 million). The same penalty would apply to breaches of the age-check rules.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in late October and now requires Senate approval. The Labor government is expected to seek support from the Greens, who back the duty of care but want higher fines for companies that break the rules. A committee is due to report on the bill by November 20, and Wells wants it passed before the end of 2026. If approved, the new rules would take effect 12 months later. Google's objections on scope and privacy now sit in the record the Senate will weigh as it considers the bill.

A spokesperson for Wells dismissed concerns that the bill could cut children off from Gmail. "The government does not intend to stop children from using email or the internet," the spokesperson said, explaining that the aim is to keep children away from pornography, not to block basic online services. Wells has compared the rules to safety standards for food, cars and children's toys, and has said the bill is not a form of censorship.

Big Tech pushes back

Google was not alone in raising concerns. Representatives from Meta, TikTok and Snap told the committee that the bill hands regulators too much power to decide what content or behavior is harmful, and warned that platforms could end up removing more content than necessary simply to avoid fines. The bill would also replace some of the rules these companies currently follow.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young took the opposite view, telling TikTok that "we actually need some proper rules in place because your community guidelines clearly aren't cutting it," the Herald reported.

Australia has already imposed strict rules on children's access to social media. Since December 2025, children under 16 have been banned from holding accounts on major social media platforms, including YouTube. The duty-of-care bill would extend regulation beyond social media accounts to online services more broadly — the expansion at the heart of Google's warning.