Only a few days after the historic legislation went into force, online discussion site Reddit filed a lawsuit on Friday over Australia’s social media ban on minors. This week, the nation became the first to prohibit minors from using a number of well-known applications and websites, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X.
If IT companies don’t remove Australian users under 16, they risk fines of Aus$49.5 million (US$33 million). Reddit, a US-based discussion forum site with thousands of expansive niche communities, challenges the law’s general legitimacy in court documents, claiming that since it is “not an age-restricted” program, it should be excluded from the government’s list of prohibited platforms.
It also stated that the law “infringes the implied freedom of political communication” and demanded that Australia’s High Court review it. According to a Reddit representative, the government has been inconsistent in deciding which platforms should be prohibited, while exempting several apps with sizable user bases for users under the age of sixteen.
Roblox, Pinterest, and WhatsApp are among the platforms that are now excluded from the ban; however, the government has emphasized that the list is still being reviewed. Additionally, the spokesman claimed that Reddit was an adult-focused online discussion platform rather than one driven by social interaction and algorithms.
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