Reddit Takes Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban to High Court

By: The Trek News Desk

Reddit has taken legal action against Australia’s newly introduced social media age restriction, filing a petition in the High Court on Friday. The law prohibits children under 16 from creating accounts on major social media platforms, a move Reddit argues violates the country’s implied freedom of political communication and goes against constitutional principles.

This legal challenge mirrors a similar petition filed last month by the Digital Freedom Project, a Sydney-based rights organisation. Both parties assert that the new regulation unnecessarily restricts young users’ access to online spaces and limits their ability to participate in digital discourse.

Reddit’s Stand Against the New Law

Reddit Inc., headquartered in California, has requested the High Court to strike down the social media Minimum Age (SMMA) law. The company says the legislation introduces serious privacy risks and places unreasonable pressure on platforms to enforce strict age-verification systems. According to Reddit, these verification methods could undermine the privacy of both minors and adults, while also hindering teenagers from joining age-appropriate online communities, including those involved in political discussions.

In its statement, Reddit emphasised that it supports the goal of protecting young users but believes the current law is flawed. “There are more effective ways for the government to safeguard youth without compromising privacy and restricting political expression,” the company said.

Government Responds Firmly

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has declined to comment directly on the lawsuit. However, an official statement highlighted the administration’s focus on protecting young Australians rather than supporting large tech platforms.
“We stand with Australian parents and children. Our commitment is to shield young people from online harm. As the case is before the Court, we cannot comment further,” the statement read.

Heavy Penalties for Non-Compliance

Under the new rules, platforms including Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and others could face fines of up to AUD 49.5 million (USD 32.9 million) if they fail to remove accounts belonging to users under 16.

Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, has already issued mandatory notices to the affected platforms, demanding data on how many underage accounts have been disabled since the law came into effect. The eSafety office will continue monitoring compliance through updates collected every six months.

Despite challenging the law, Reddit has confirmed that it will follow the legal requirements and maintain communication with the eSafety Commissioner.

Young Users Turn to New Alternatives

As major platforms enforce age restrictions, Australian children are quickly switching to smaller and lesser-known apps. Downloads of Yope, a photo-sharing app for friend groups, surged by 251% this week, while ByteDance’s Lemon8 saw an 88% spike, according to app analytics firm Apptopia.

However, these smaller apps may also fall under the age-restricted category if they are deemed appealing to users under 16. If so, they will face the same penalties for failing to block underage users.

Challenges in Monitoring Age Online

Experts describe enforcing age rules in the fast-changing world of social media as a “Whack-a-Mole” challenge. New platforms emerge constantly, making strict regulation difficult. Even so, officials believe that a more fragmented social media environment could reduce the pressure on children who fear being left out or disconnected from their peers.

The government has allowed flexibility in determining age-verification methods but has ruled out mandatory government ID checks due to privacy concerns. Platforms may instead analyse existing user data or use third-party facial age-estimation tools.

What Happens Next?

Court documents reveal that Reddit will urge the High Court to invalidate the law entirely or at least prevent the company from being categorised as an age-restricted platform. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for late February to set the timeline for the Digital Freedom Project’s separate challenge filed on behalf of two 15-year-old teenagers.

It remains unclear whether both cases will be heard together, but the outcomes are expected to shape the future of online access and regulation for young Australians, and potentially influence global policy debates surrounding youth safety and digital freedoms.

Source: News Agencies