Reddit has filed a lawsuit in Australia’s highest court after the country’s new under-16 social media ban came into force, arguing the law infringes on political expression and raises serious privacy concerns.
The legal challenge targets Australia’s sweeping age restriction law, which took effect on December 10, 2025. Under the rules, major platforms including Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Kick, and Facebook must block access for anyone under the age of 16 or face fines of up to $49.5 million AUS.
Announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2024, the legislation was framed as a measure to protect children online. While most platforms moved to comply, Reddit is downvoting the ban and is taking a different approach.
According to Reuters, in a filing lodged with the High Court of Australia, Reddit called the law “invalid on the ground that it infringes the implied freedom of political communication.” The case names the Commonwealth of Australia and Communications Minister Anika Wells as defendants.
Australia defends Reddit ban for younglings
Reddit’s lawyers, Perry Herzfeld and Jackson Wherrett, argued that banning under-16s from the platform would directly impede political discourse. The company said young Australians regularly engage with political content online and that cutting them off could affect how future voters form opinions.
“Australian citizens under the age of 16 will, within years if not months, become electors,” the filing states. “The choices to be made by those citizens will be informed by political communication in which they engage prior to the age of 18.”
Reddit also claimed it should be exempt from the law entirely, arguing it does not meet the legal definition of a social media platform under the legislation.
The Australian government has shown little sign of backing down. A spokesperson for Minister Wells said the government is “on the side of Australian parents and kids, not platforms,” adding it would “stand firm to protect young Australians from experiencing harm on social media.”
Health Minister Mark Butler went further, accusing Reddit of acting to protect profits rather than young people’s rights. He said the government would fight the lawsuit “every step of the way.”
Platforms affected by the ban have turned to age estimation tools to comply, including activity-based age inference and selfie-based facial scans. Reddit pushed back on those measures, warning they introduce major privacy risks.
“The law carries some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet,” Reddit said in a statement published alongside its filing. “So, we are filing an application to have the law reviewed.”
The clash comes amid a broader global debate over online age restrictions. The UK recently rolled out stricter age verification for certain content, requiring facial scans that sparked backlash over privacy and usability. Denmark is also preparing similar limits, with plans to block social media access for users under 15.
For now, Reddit’s legal challenge sets the stage for a prolonged court battle that could shape how far governments can go in regulating online speech for young users.
