Meet the young Aussie YouTube stars packing up their lives and moving overseas to Albanese government's imminent social media ban
- New laws come into effect December 10
- READ MORE: Parent's warning to those in favour of under-16s social media ban
An Aussie family of YouTube stars have moved to the other side of the world to avoid the federal government's looming social media ban.
From December 10, young Aussies under-16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube - a year after the controversial legislation was passed by the government.
Western Australia's Empire family, mothers Bec and Beck Lea, son Prezley 17, and daughter Charli 14 - packed their bags and moved to the UK a fortnight ago to avoid impacts on their social media careers, where they have a combined six million followers.
The biggest implications would be for Charli, a rising social media star who has racked up almost 550,000 YouTube subscribers, 188,000 Instagram followers, and 284,000 TikTok fans. The accounts are managed by her parents.
While the mums aren't against the ban, the government is yet to announce finer details, including how it will be implemented.
Now that Prezley has finished school and Charli has switched to online education, the parents thought it would be a perfect time to move to London, where their daughter will be able to keep her social media accounts.
'They (the government) haven't defined it exactly, of how it's going to work yet,' Beck Lea explained in a recent YouTube video explaining their decision.
'It's a protective thing and we understand that it's protecting young people from harm on the internet, but we use the internet for good.'
The Empire family, consisting of mothers Bec (left) and Beck Lea (right), son Prezley, 17, and daughter Charli, 14, have moved to to London, citing the social media ban for Aussies under-16
'We've been wanting to travel for a while so now we go to the UK, we can still use our social media, Charlotte can still use her social media, Prezley is over 16, but it just kind of covers us while Australia figures out the logistics of that rule.
'I think there's going to be a lot of hiccups and a lot of ups and downs.'
The dual British-Australian citizens chose London for work and travel opportunities, where they already have a massive UK audience.
'We've got our British passports, so we thought why not?' Beck Lea continued.
The family insisted that they're not opposed to Australia's social media ban, adding that the move 'won't be forever'.
'We understand that it's very important, that there's young people that are affected negatively from social media,' Beck Lea said.
'We're not naive to that, it's just that how it affects us and the way we use social media, where we would get caught up in the few that use the internet for good.'
Bec added: 'The world has changed so much now with social media, where young kids can start making a difference for good and starting business at a young age now.'
The Empire family use social media platforms to document their daily lives
The mothers admitted they had their own hesitations and fears when their children first asked to create YouTube videos.
'What we knew about it was that it was like a dangerous kind of unsafe space,' Beck Lea told Mamamia.
'We were just like, 'Nope, we're not even getting into it, guys'. Just a flat, 'No'.'
Bec added: 'We always have a bit of a discussion about what we would like to share.
'We don't share anything that is even remotely private or something.'
