Australia’s world-first social media ban for children under 16 will apply to messaging board Reddit and live-streaming platform Kick, the online safety regulator has ruled.
Communications Minister Anika Wells will on Wednesday confirm the two platforms are joining Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook and Instagram, which includes Threads, as “age-restricted” from December 10.
The eSafety Commission has declared the eight services, including now Reddit and Kick, currently meet the criteria for being included in the ban, specifically that their “sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction”.
Julie Inman Grant recommended the addition of two more platforms to the ban. (AAP: Lukas Coach)
Ms Wells said she had met with the major social media platforms in the past month so they understood there was “no excuse for failure” in implementing the ban.
“eSafety has assessed eight platforms as requiring age-restriction but their assessments will be ongoing and this list is dynamic,” she said.
“We aren’t chasing perfection, we are chasing a meaningful difference.”
Kick is an Australian competitor to video live streaming platform Twitch, with a reported average viewership of about 258,000, while forum-based platform Reddit is the seventh-most visited site in the world.
In the last few months platforms like Reddit received advice from eSafety they could be captured in the ban, and were given an opportunity to make submissions about why they should not be included.
A final decision was then made based on this information.
From December 10 any platform that fails to take reasonable steps to keep Australians under the age of 16 from holding an account will face fines of up to $49.5 million.
Several tech giants have argued the government’s slow release of information and guidance so close to the December 10 start date has hampered their ability to prepare to implement restrictions.
The social platforms that could be forced to ban under-16s
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But at a Senate hearing last week officials representing TikTok, Meta and Snap all confirmed they would begin blocking young teenagers from their platforms when the new laws take effect.
Snap global policy senior vice-president Jennifer Stout said Australia was a “first mover” on the ban and as a result the company was “learning as we go”.
“We’re doing the best we can to comply,” she said.
Snapchat is looking to implement a tool so underage users can download and archive their data before their accounts are disabled and locked.
TikTok is exploring options such as giving young people the ability to deactivate or place an account in suspension, while Meta is looking to provide similar options to users on Instagram and Facebook.
Ms Wells said there was a “time and place for social media in Australia”, but there was no space for “predatory algorithms, harmful content and toxic popularity metres manipulating Australian children”.
“Online platforms can target children with chilling control,” she said.
“We are mandating they use that sophisticated technology to protect them.”
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said delaying children’s access to social media accounts gave them “valuable time to learn and grow” without the “powerful, unseen forces of opaque algorithms and endless scroll”.
She encouraged parents to visit the eSafety website for resources explaining the ban, including the opportunity to attend a live webinar where people could ask questions to the regulator.
Platforms not required with the new age limit from next month must be captured in one of the exempt classes including messaging, email, voice or video calling, online games, health, education, professional development or services that enable information about products or services.
This means popular gaming platforms like Roblox and messaging apps like Meta-owned WhatsApp or Messenger are not captured by the new laws.