Reddit and Kick are the latest platforms confirmed by the eSafety Commissioner as being part of the Australian youth social media ban set to start on 10 December.
With just over a month to go until Australian children under the age of 16 can’t access designated social media platforms, the latest update provides some more clarity as to which platforms are affected.
The eSafety Commissioner informed nine social media platforms of their designation as “age-restricted platforms” and are subject to the ban. Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram were part of the included platforms early on, while YouTube was added later.
Newly added to the list, Reddit is one of the world’s most popular websites, attracting more than 116 million daily users according to its press page. Australia’s social media ban prevents children from having accounts, but not outright access entirely. Reddit posts can be viewed without an account, so the ban mainly impacts underage users’ ability to post, comment, and send direct messages.
Meanwhile, Kick is an Australian-founded streaming platform where users livestream video games and online casino content. It claims to have “over 75 million users”, notably less than the “105 million+ average monthly users” of competing platform Twitch, which is not included in Australia’s social media ban.
“Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features such as opaque algorithms and endless scroll,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. “This important normative change will be invaluable to parents and young people alike – creating friction or a check in the online ecosystem that previously did not exist.”
Which platforms are included in the social media ban?
With the inclusion of Reddit and Kick, there are currently nine confirmed platforms designated as “age-restricted social media platforms”:
- Snapchat
- Threads
- TikTok
- X
- YouTube
- Kick
Any age-restricted social media platform that fails to “take reasonable steps” to prevent underage account holders may face penalties of up to $49.5 million.
Before the legislation was passed last year, there were concerns about which platforms would be included and how it would be enforced. What defined a social media platform was contentious, particularly around fears that online video games may have been impacted.
Who’s not currently included in the social media ban?
As part of the eSafety Commissioner’s latest announcement, several platforms were singled out as not being subject to the social media ban. They include:
- Discord
- GitHub
- LEGO Play
- Roblox
- Steam and Steam Chat
- Google Classroom
- Messenger
- YouTube Kids
Discord’s inclusion follows a recent third-party data breach that exposed 68,000 Australian users. The platform began implementing age verification processes for some Australian users, which was potentially in response to Australia’s social media ban.
Iman Grant stressed that the list of platforms considered age-restricted would not remain static. As platforms change or new platforms surface, eSafety intends to react accordingly.
“We will continue to take a whole of ecosystem approach, but we want to reinforce that just because a service is excluded, it does not mean it is absolutely safe,” Iman Grant said. “As parents, we will need to continue being engaged in our children’s online lives.”
