Reddit sues Australia over underage social media ban

"Reddit has filed a lawsuit in Australia's High Court aiming to overturn the country's under-16 social media ban, reported. The forum platform called the law contrary to Australia's constitution as it intrudes on free political discourse. It also argued that Reddit shouldn't have been included in the ban since it isn't a social media site, based on the law's definition. The action is likely to set in motion a protracted legal battle, given Reddit's resources and its popularity in Australia"

"Australia's minimum age social media ban, the first of its kind in the world, went into effect on December 10. The ten platforms affected, including Reddit, must bar underage users or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million). Platforms are using a variety of means to determine age, including age inference based on activity and selfies. However Reddit argued that the law comes with some "serious privacy and political expression issues" for users."

"The government disagreed, noting that Reddit filed the lawsuit to protect is profits, not children's right to free expression. "It is action we saw time and time again by Big Tobacco against tobacco control and we are seeing it now by some social media or big tech giants," said Health Minister Mark Butler. With a market capitalization of $44 billion, Reddit certainly has the means to sustain a long fight."

Reddit filed a High Court challenge seeking to overturn Australia's under-16 social media ban, calling the law an intrusion on free political discourse and arguing that Reddit is misclassified under the statute. The ban requires ten platforms, including Reddit, to block users under 16 or face fines up to A$49.5 million, with platforms using age inference methods and selfies to determine age. Reddit warned of privacy and political expression harms, noting under-16 citizens will soon become electors influenced by early political communication. The government said the suit aims to protect profits, and Reddit's market size makes a prolonged legal fight likely.

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