Reddit has filed a case in Australia's highest court against the country's landmark social media ban on children.
The online forum is among 10 social media companies set to ban Australians under 16 from having accounts under a new law that came into force on Wednesday.
The ban, which is being closely watched around the world, has been justified by campaigners and the government as a need to protect children from harmful content and algorithms.
Reddit is complying with the ban, but in this case will argue that the policy has serious implications for privacy and political rights. It is the second such lawsuit, with two Australian teenagers also awaiting a High Court hearing.
“Despite the best intentions, this law misses the mark,” Reddit said in a post on its website.
“The Australian Government has better ways to achieve our shared goal of protecting young people.”
Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells previously said the government would not give in to legal threats.
“We will not be intimidated by big technology. On behalf of Australian parents, we will stand firm,” she told parliament after news about the first trial broke last month.
In the case, which the High Court has agreed to hear at a yet-to-be-determined date next year, two 15-year-olds from New South Wales argue the social media ban is unconstitutional because it violates the “implied freedom of communication on government and political matters”.
“Democracy doesn't start at 16, as this law says,” Maisie Newland told the BBC after their case was brought.
The ban, which has rattled world leaders and concerned tech companies, has also been criticized by those who say a blanket ban is neither practical nor sensible.
Experts worry that children could circumvent the ban relatively easily, either by fooling age-verification technology or by finding other, potentially less safe, gathering places online.
And with the support of some mental health advocates, many children are saying so. deprives young people of connection – especially from LGBTQ+, neurodivergent or rural communities – and will leave them less prepared to cope with the realities of life online.
But the policy is wildly popular among parents and has won support from the likes of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
In a statement on their website, the couple praised Australia's “brave” actions but said it “should not have come to this.”
“We hope this ban is just the beginning of a reckoning between society and the technology companies that built these platforms with growth, not security, as their primary focus.”
Governments from the US state of Florida to the European Union are experimenting with restricting children's use of social media. But, along with a higher age limit of 16, Australia is the first jurisdiction to eliminate the exemption from parental consent under such a policy, making its laws the strictest in the world.
Reddit said the law requires “intrusive and potentially unsafe verification processes for both adults and minors,” isolates teens from participating in “age-appropriate social experiences” and creates an “illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which are not.”
“There are more targeted, privacy-preserving measures to protect young people online without resorting to blanket bans.”
The case is not “an attempt to evade compliance” or “an attempt to retain young users for business reasons,” it added.
“Unlike other platforms covered by this law, the vast majority of Reddit users are adults, and we do not market to or target advertising to children under 18,” it said.
Other platforms affected by the ban include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
