iWorld
Reddit takes Australia to court over ban on young social-media users
SYDNEY: Australia faces a high-stakes legal battle over its groundbreaking ban on social media for children after Reddit filed a lawsuit in the country’s highest court.
The American platform filed suit on Friday, arguing the world-first law, which prohibits under-16s from accessing social media, unlawfully restricts free speech guaranteed by Australia’s constitution. Reddit’s 12-page application to the High Court named the federal government and communications minister Anika Wells as defendants.
The San Francisco-based company, which boasts a $44 billion valuation and considers Australia a key market, also contends it should be exempt from the law because it fails to qualify as social media under the legislation’s definition.
The challenge comes just two days after the ban took effect on December 10th. Platforms must now prevent under-16s from accessing their services or face fines of up to A$ 49.5 million ($33 million). Children and their parents will not face any penalties.
Reddit’s intervention marks the second court challenge to the ban, following an action filed last month by two teenagers affiliated with an Australian libertarian group. But the tech company’s deep pockets and legal resources, however, greatly intensify the pressure on the government and could prompt other tech companies to take similar action.
Ten major platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, opposed the law for more than a year, but eventually agreed to comply. They say they will now use technology that estimates a user’s age through online behaviour or selfie analysis.
Health minister Mark Butler accused Reddit of protecting corporate profits rather than children’s rights to political expression. He compared the tech industry’s tactics to those employed by tobacco companies against smoking regulations.
Reddit countered that the ban carries “serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet”. The company’s filing emphasised that Australians under 16 would soon become voters. “The choices to be made by those citizens will be informed by political communication in which they engage prior to the age of 18,” it argued.
