Reddit launches high court challenge against Australia’s under-16 social media ban
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Melbourne: Global online forum Reddit filed a court challenge on Friday against Australia’s world-first legislation that prohibits children under the age of 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms.
The lawsuit, filed by the California-based Reddit Inc. in the High Court, follows a similar case lodged last month by the Sydney-based rights group, the Digital Freedom Project. Both legal challenges argue that the law is unconstitutional as it infringes upon Australia’s implied freedom of political communication.
In a statement regarding the filing, Reddit expressed that while they share the goal of protecting youth, the current legislation is flawed. "We believe there are more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth, and the SMMA (Social Media Minimum Age) law carries some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet," the company stated.
Reddit further argued that the law has the "unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors". They claimed this would isolate teenagers from age-appropriate community experiences, including political discussions, and creates an "illogical patchwork" regarding which platforms are included in the ban.
From Wednesday, major platforms including Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Twitch face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32.9 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children under 16.
Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and the law’s enforcer, issued compulsory information notices to the 10 age-restricted platforms on Thursday. These notices demand data regarding the number of young children’s accounts deactivated since the law came into effect.
Inman Grant had previously predicted that some platforms might wait to receive their first notice or fine before mounting a legal challenge. The eSafety office intends to send notices every six months to gauge compliance effectiveness.
Despite the ongoing court challenge, Reddit confirmed it would comply with the law and continue to engage with the eSafety Commissioner.
Documents filed with the court registry indicate that Reddit will ask the seven High Court judges to rule the law invalid. Alternatively, the company is seeking a court order to prevent the government from listing Reddit among the age-restricted platforms.
The High Court is scheduled to hold a preliminary hearing in late February to set a date for the Digital Freedom Project’s challenge. It remains unclear whether the two cases will be heard simultaneously.
(Inputs from PTI)