Name: Reddit Challenges Australia's World-First Law Banning Children Under 16 From Social Media
Uploaded: 2025-12-12T17:21:19.000Z
Description: California-based Reddit Inc.’s suit filed in the High Court follows a case filed last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project.

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

NTD Plus

News

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

Trump Announces National Garden of American Heroes Plans

Top Officer: Navy Funding Could Lapse by July

UK Health Secretary Quits Starmer’s Cabinet

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

Chinese Leader Hates It When ‘Human Rights’ Is Raised: Col. Grant Newsham on Trump’s China Visit

Man Convicted of $1 Billion Medicare Fraud in Florida

Retail Sales Rose for 3rd Straight Month in April

Former Spirit Airlines Workers Sue for Pay, Benefits

Bessent: China Needs Hormuz Strait Open More Than US

Victoria Friedman is a UK-based reporter covering a wide range of national stories.

Victoria Friedman

World News

Middle East

Israel–Hamas War

Netanyahu Considers Suing New York Times Over Column Alleging Rape of Palestinian Prisoners

Russia Unleashes Heaviest Wartime Drone Assault on Ukraine

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 14)

Kevin Hogan is an NTD News data reporter and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Kevin covers breaking news, as well as U.S. and global current events. He conveys the news through data visualizations and investigates pressing issues.

Kevin Hogan

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 11)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 5)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 4)

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

MELBOURNE, Australia—Global online forum Reddit on Friday filed a court challenge to Australia’s world-first law that bans Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on the world’s most popular social media platforms.

California-based Reddit Inc.’s suit filed in the High Court follows a case filed last month by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project.

Both suits claim the law is unconstitutional because it infringes on Australia’s implied freedom of political communication.

“We believe there are more effective ways for the Australian government to accomplish our shared goal of protecting youth, and the SMMA (Social Media Minimum Age) law carries some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet,” Reddit said in a statement.

“While we agree with the importance of protecting people under 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions), and creating an illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which aren’t,” Reddit added.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government declined to comment on the merits of Reddit's challenge.

“The Albanese government is on the side of Australian parents and kids, not platforms,” a government statement said.

“We will stand firm to protect young Australians from experiencing harm on social media. The matter is before the courts so it is not appropriate to comment further,” the statement added.

Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Twitch face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32.9 million) from Wednesday if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children younger than 16.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the law’s enforcer, sent compulsory information notices to the 10 age-restricted platforms on Thursday demanding data on how many accounts of young children they had deactivated since the law took effect on Wednesday.

Inman Grant had predicted that some platforms might have been waiting to receive their first notice or their first fine for noncompliance before mounting a legal challenge.

ESafety will send six monthly notices to gauge how effectively the platforms are complying.

Despite the court challenge, Reddit said it would comply with the law and would continue to engage with eSafety.

Australian children are searching for alternatives to the age-restricted platforms. Downloads of Yope, an app for sharing photos within friend groups, increased by 251 percent since Monday, according to Apptopia, an intelligence platform analyzing mobile apps.

Downloads of Lemon8—a photo- and video-sharing app which, like TikTok, was created by ByteDance—increased by 88 percent.

ESafety said it has written to Yope, Lemon8 and other smaller apps to ask them to self-assess whether they meet the definition of an age-restricted platform. If they do, they also face fines if they don’t exclude young children.

Experts say policing age restrictions in the rapidly evolving social media landscape is like a game of Whack-a-Mole. But government authorities expect a more fragmented social media marketplace would not appeal as strongly to young children who fear exclusion from their peers and missing out.

The platforms’ age-verification options were to ask for copies of identification documents, use a third party to apply age-estimation technology to analyze an account holder’s face, or make inferences from data already available, such has how long an account has been held.

The government hasn't told the platforms how to check ages, but has said requesting all account holders verify their ages would be unnecessarily intrusive, given the tech giants already have sufficient personal data on most people to perform that task.

For privacy reasons, the platforms also cannot compel users to provide government-issued identification.

Documents filed with the court registry show Reddit will ask the seven High Court judges to rule the law is invalid.

Alternatively, the company wants the court 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 on behalf of two 15-year-olds. It is not yet clear whether the two challenges would be heard together.

Latest

Science &amp; Tech

Videos

Australia

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Management

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

Reddit Challenges Australia's World-First Law Banning Children Under 16 From Social Media

Rare Violin Expected to Fetch Millions in Paris Auction

Australia's PM Stands by Social Media Ban as Teens Flaunt Workarounds

Congressional Leaders Attend Menorah Lighting Ceremony

Lawsuit Challenges Trump's Face on National Park Passes

Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.

Tom Ozimek

Trump Admin Pulls 9,500 Truck Drivers off the Road for Failing English Tests

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Machado Vows Return to Venezuela

Closer Inspection Needed for Both Acquisitions of Warner Bros. Discovery: Analysis

Bill Pan is an Epoch Times reporter covering education issues and New York news.