Australia has added Reddit and Kick to a world-first rule requiring social platforms to block users under 16, joining eight other major services. The restriction takes effect Dec. 10 and noncompliant platforms face fines up to A$50 million (about $33 million). The eSafety Commissioner will enforce the policy and work with academics to study impacts and unintended consequences. Supporters praise the move internationally, while critics and more than 140 academics warn it may be a blunt solution that raises privacy concerns.
Australia Adds Reddit and Kick to World-First Under-16 Social Media Ban — Enforcement Begins Dec. 10
Australia has added Reddit and Kick to a world-first rule requiring social platforms to block users under 16, joining eight other major services. The restriction takes effect Dec. 10 and noncompliant platforms face fines up to A$50 million (about $33 million). The eSafety Commissioner will enforce the policy and work with academics to study impacts and unintended consequences. Supporters praise the move internationally, while critics and more than 140 academics warn it may be a blunt solution that raises privacy concerns.
06:24, 05.11.2025Society
Australia expands age-restriction list to include Reddit and Kick
Australia has added the message board Reddit and livestreaming platform Kick to the list of social media services required to bar users under 16 from holding accounts, Communications Minister Anika Wells announced. The move extends a world-first legal obligation already applied to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube.
From Dec. 10, platforms whose "sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction" must take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating or keeping accounts. Failure to comply could attract fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (about $33 million).
“We have met with several of the social media platforms in the past month so that they understand there is no excuse for failure to implement this law,” Wells told reporters in Canberra. She added: “Online platforms use technology to target children with chilling precision. We are asking them to use that same technology to keep children safe online.”
Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will be responsible for enforcing the new age restrictions and said the list of covered platforms will evolve as technologies change. The government statement said the nine currently restricted services meet the threshold that their core purpose is to enable online social interaction.
Inman Grant said the office will collaborate with academics to evaluate the ban's effects, including impacts on children's sleep, in-person social interaction and physical activity, and to monitor any unintended consequences.
“We will be gathering evidence so that others can learn from Australia's experience,” Inman Grant said.
The policy has drawn international interest. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a United Nations forum she was “inspired” by Australia’s approach. At the same time, critics say an across-the-board age limit is a blunt tool that may create privacy risks by requiring broad age verification for all users.
More than 140 Australian and international academics in technology and child-welfare fields signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year arguing that a simple age limit is “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.” The government says it aims to enforce the rule while keeping platform users' data as private as possible.
What to watch next: how platforms implement age verification, whether the restriction reduces children's exposure to harmful content, and the evidence the eSafety Commissioner gathers about health, social, and privacy outcomes.