Online forum Reddit and live-streaming platform Kick will be included in Australia’s social media ban for children under the age of 16.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X are among the platforms that will need to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from holding accounts under Australia’s world-first social media laws, which come into effect 10 December.
The federal government on Tuesday announced the ban will also extend to Reddit and Kick, with other platforms, such as streaming platform Twitch, still under consideration.
“These are definitely not set and forget laws … there will be room for movement as we move into 10 December,” Communications Minister Anika Wells told the ABC on Wednesday.
Technology behemoths that do not successfully restrict children’s access to their platforms could incur fines reaching as high as $49.5 million.
Social media users cannot be forced to provide government-issued ID as the sole method to prove their age online and must be offered other options.
There will be exceptions for health and education services, including WhatsApp and Meta’s Messenger Kids.
The law puts the onus for compliance on the tech companies to “detect and deactivate or remove” accounts from underage users.
About 1.5 million accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads and X will be deactivated in less than two months as a result.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant previously wrote to Reddit and other platforms asking them to self-assess whether they would be captured under the ban.
Wells mentioned that she had engaged with leading social media companies over the past month to ensure they comprehend that there is no justification for not enforcing this law.
“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.”
Grant encouraged parents and young people to download the commission’s resources and register for a live webinar where questions about the social media age restrictions can be answered.
“Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of opaque algorithms and endless scroll,” she said.
