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Reddit Takes Australia to Court Over Teen Social Media Ban

MarketDash Editorial Team
5 hours ago
Reddit is challenging Australia's groundbreaking under-16 social media ban in the country's highest court, claiming the law violates constitutional free speech protections and shouldn't even apply to its platform in the first place.

Reddit (RDDT) is taking a swing at Australia's new social media age restrictions, and it's not pulling punches. On Friday, the platform filed a legal challenge in the country's highest court against the Social Media Minimum Age law, which kicked in just two days earlier. It's the first ban of its kind anywhere in the world, and Reddit wants no part of it.

The Constitutional Challenge

While Reddit is complying with the ban for now, the company is making two distinct legal arguments. First, it claims the law tramples on Australia's constitutional right to free political communication. Second, Reddit contends it shouldn't even be considered social media under the law's definition, making the entire exercise moot.

In a post on its r/RedditSafety thread, the company laid out its concerns in detail. Sure, protecting kids under 16 matters, Reddit acknowledges. But the platform argues the law creates a mess of problems: intrusive and potentially insecure age verification for everyone (not just minors), blocks teenagers from age-appropriate communities including political discussions, and gets applied inconsistently across different platforms. The company suggests there are smarter ways to protect young users without trampling on privacy and free expression for everyone else.

This isn't the first legal challenge to the ban. Two Australian teenagers representing a libertarian group already filed suit, but Reddit's entry dramatically raises the stakes. The company has significantly deeper pockets and legal resources, and if it wins, other platforms could follow suit with their own challenges.

Big Tech's Compliance Drama

When those teenagers first sued, Australia's Communications Minister Anika Wells made the government's position crystal clear: they wouldn't be "intimidated" by Big Tech companies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the ban when it took effect Wednesday as something that would make a real difference for families.

Most major platforms have already fallen in line. Elon Musk's X complied right before the deadline, posting a statement that amounted to "we're following Australian law because we legally have to, not because we want to." The platform said it would remove users who don't meet age requirements.

Meta Platforms (META) went even further, deactivating Instagram, Facebook, and Threads accounts belonging to Australian users under 16. Some observers called this the "first domino" in what could become a global movement to regulate tech giants more aggressively.

As for Reddit itself, the stock has had a solid year regardless of regulatory headwinds. On a year-to-date basis, shares climbed 40.76%. On Thursday, the stock dipped 1.92% to close at $233.54.

Back to News

Reddit Takes Australia to Court Over Teen Social Media Ban

MarketDash Editorial Team
5 hours ago
Reddit is challenging Australia's groundbreaking under-16 social media ban in the country's highest court, claiming the law violates constitutional free speech protections and shouldn't even apply to its platform in the first place.

Reddit (RDDT) is taking a swing at Australia's new social media age restrictions, and it's not pulling punches. On Friday, the platform filed a legal challenge in the country's highest court against the Social Media Minimum Age law, which kicked in just two days earlier. It's the first ban of its kind anywhere in the world, and Reddit wants no part of it.

The Constitutional Challenge

While Reddit is complying with the ban for now, the company is making two distinct legal arguments. First, it claims the law tramples on Australia's constitutional right to free political communication. Second, Reddit contends it shouldn't even be considered social media under the law's definition, making the entire exercise moot.

In a post on its r/RedditSafety thread, the company laid out its concerns in detail. Sure, protecting kids under 16 matters, Reddit acknowledges. But the platform argues the law creates a mess of problems: intrusive and potentially insecure age verification for everyone (not just minors), blocks teenagers from age-appropriate communities including political discussions, and gets applied inconsistently across different platforms. The company suggests there are smarter ways to protect young users without trampling on privacy and free expression for everyone else.

This isn't the first legal challenge to the ban. Two Australian teenagers representing a libertarian group already filed suit, but Reddit's entry dramatically raises the stakes. The company has significantly deeper pockets and legal resources, and if it wins, other platforms could follow suit with their own challenges.

Big Tech's Compliance Drama

When those teenagers first sued, Australia's Communications Minister Anika Wells made the government's position crystal clear: they wouldn't be "intimidated" by Big Tech companies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the ban when it took effect Wednesday as something that would make a real difference for families.

Most major platforms have already fallen in line. Elon Musk's X complied right before the deadline, posting a statement that amounted to "we're following Australian law because we legally have to, not because we want to." The platform said it would remove users who don't meet age requirements.

Meta Platforms (META) went even further, deactivating Instagram, Facebook, and Threads accounts belonging to Australian users under 16. Some observers called this the "first domino" in what could become a global movement to regulate tech giants more aggressively.

As for Reddit itself, the stock has had a solid year regardless of regulatory headwinds. On a year-to-date basis, shares climbed 40.76%. On Thursday, the stock dipped 1.92% to close at $233.54.