According to engadget, Australia’s Communications Minister Anika Wells announced on Wednesday that Reddit and streaming platform Kick will be included in the country’s under-16 social media ban starting December 10. The legislation, which passed in late 2024, puts the enforcement burden on platforms rather than parents and carries penalties up to AU$49.5 million (around $32 million) for companies that don’t take reasonable steps to block underage users. Reddit and Kick join previously announced platforms including Facebook, X, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. The government considers this list a starting point and won’t rule out adding more companies, with Discord, Twitch, GitHub and Roblox currently under consideration.
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How this actually works
Here’s the thing about this approach – it completely flips the script on who’s responsible for age verification. Instead of parents monitoring their kids’ device usage, the platforms themselves have to implement systems to detect and block users under 16. But how exactly are they supposed to do that? The legislation mentions “reasonable steps,” but that’s pretty vague. Are we talking about government ID uploads? Facial age estimation? Credit card verification? The technical implementation details are where this gets really messy.
The YouTube flip-flop
Remember when YouTube was initially excluded because it was considered educational? That didn’t last long. Other companies on the list protested, basically saying “if we have to jump through these hoops, why does YouTube get a free pass?” So Australia caved and added them. This highlights the fundamental challenge – where do you draw the line between educational content and social media? Is a math tutorial on YouTube fundamentally different from a cooking video on TikTok? The distinction gets blurry real fast.
The enforcement nightmare
Let’s be real – enforcing this is going to be incredibly difficult. Kids are resourceful, and determined teenagers will absolutely find workarounds. VPNs, fake accounts, using friends’ devices – the cat-and-mouse game is inevitable. And what about the privacy implications of collecting age verification data? Minister Wells talks about platforms using “sophisticated technology to protect them,” but that same technology could create massive privacy risks. We’re basically asking companies to become digital bouncers for an entire country’s youth population.
Bigger picture
Australia’s approach represents one of the most aggressive government interventions into social media age restrictions we’ve seen globally. Other countries are watching closely to see how this plays out. If it works, we could see similar legislation spread rapidly. If it fails spectacularly, it might scare other governments away. Either way, this sets a major precedent for how nations might regulate children’s online access in the future. The December 10 implementation date is coming fast, and the tech industry is about to get a crash course in Australian compliance.
