YouTube has rejected calls by the eSafety commissioner for the platform to be included in a looming social media ban for children, denying the site was harmful for young users.

Ahead of a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said YouTube should be included in the social media ban for under-16s.

The world-leading laws will come into effect from December, but YouTube had been carved out of the ban as part of the legislation, while platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok will be off-limits.

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Inman Grant cited research showing seven in 10 children between 10 and 15-years-old have encountered harmful content on the internet, with YouTube the most cited platform for young people viewing the material.

“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,” she told ABC Radio on Tuesday ahead of the address.

But YouTube have hit back over the calls for it to be banned, saying it was 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 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.”

But Inman Grant said it was critical the social media bans be consistent 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 ...The time has come for them to take more responsibility and this is what the legislation will encourage them to do.”

YouTube has denied it had changed policies that would negatively affect younger users.

It comes after research from the federal government’s age assurance trial found a majority thought YouTube was suitable for those under 15-years-old.

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

The eSafety commissioner will also use the speech to the National Press Club to warn about artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots sexualising content being used by young people online.

“Schools reported to us these children had been directed by their AI companions to engage in explicit and harmful sexual acts,” Inman Grant will say 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.”