Reddit has filed a legal challenge in Australia’s High Court against the country’s newly enacted law banning children under 16 from accessing major social media platforms, intensifying debate over the balance between online safety and fundamental freedoms. The world-first legislation, which came into force on December 10, 2025, requires platforms such as Reddit, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16 users from creating or maintaining accounts or face fines of up to A$49.5 million, a threshold that has already forced social networks to begin purging teenage accounts.
In its High Court filing, Reddit argues the law’s application to its platform is inaccurate and that its broad definitions could impinge on the implied freedom of political communication guaranteed under Australia’s constitution. The company contends it should not be classified alongside conventional social networks because it primarily facilitates topic-based forums rather than social networking in the usual sense, a distinction it says undermines the basis for enforcement against it. Reddit also warns that compliance measures, such as intrusive age verification systems, could have unintended privacy consequences for all users, not just minors.
The legal action follows an earlier constitutional challenge filed by a group of teenagers supported by a local advocacy organisation, which argued that the ban isolates young Australians from modern civic engagement and online discourse. Critics of the law, including digital rights advocates, have expressed concerns that strict age-based restrictions could drive minors toward less regulated corners of the internet, where protections are weaker and risks potentially higher.
Australian authorities, for their part, have defended the legislation as necessary to protect children from harmful content, addiction and adverse mental health outcomes linked to prolonged social media use, framing it as a public-health and safety intervention. The government’s stance underscores a broader shift in legal and policy approaches to regulating digital platforms and youth engagement online.
