Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a High Court challenge to Australia’s world-first law that bars children under 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms. California-based Reddit Inc’s suit follows a separate case last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project.
Both legal challenges argue the law is unconstitutional because it infringes Australia’s implied freedom of political communication. In a statement, Reddit said it supports protecting people under 16 but believes there are more effective ways to do so and warned the Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) law raises serious privacy and political expression concerns.
Reddit said the law could force intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolate teens from age-appropriate community experiences including political discussion, and create an inconsistent patchwork of which platforms are covered.
Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch face fines of up to A$49.5 million (about US$32.9 million) if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children under 16. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, who enforces the law, sent compulsory information notices to the 10 platforms demanding data on how many child accounts they had deactivated since the law took effect.
Inman Grant had predicted some platforms might wait for a notice or a fine before mounting legal challenges. eSafety plans to send six-monthly notices to monitor compliance.
Despite filing the court challenge, Reddit said it would comply with the law and continue to engage with eSafety. Court documents show Reddit will ask the seven High Court judges to rule the law invalid or, alternatively, to prevent the government from listing Reddit among the age-restricted platforms.
The High Court will hold a preliminary hearing in late February to set a date for Digital Freedom Project’s challenge, which was filed on behalf of two 15-year-olds. It is not yet clear whether the two cases will be heard together.
