Reddit has asked Australia’s High Court to look at the country’s new age limit rules for social media. The company said in its application that it accepts the need to keep young people safer online and is already following the law. It said the current rule creates intrusive checks that affect adults and teenagers and raises worries about how people’s details are handled. Reddit said this extra pressure does not match how the platform works and does not help young people in the way lawmakers intended.
The company said it has never marketed itself to under 16 year olds and does not want to bring them in. It pointed out that its rating on the Apple App Store already sat at 17+ before the law arrived. It added that users under 16 are not a large share of its audience. It said this case is not an attempt to keep young users for money reasons and it will keep working with eSafety.
Reddit also referenced a view from the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Commission said there are less restrictive ways to protect young people while avoiding harm to other rights. Reddit used this to show that its concerns are shared across different groups. It also mentioned California’s Digital Age Assurance Act and said age checks placed at device or app store level could help protect families without forcing every platform to run its own checks.
Why Does Reddit Think The Law Does Not Fit The Platform?
Reddit said in its filing that it has been placed in the wrong category under the new rules. It said the law is aimed at sites built for personal interaction while Reddit works differently. The company said it does not bring in people’s contact lists, does not help users build personal networks and does not design itself around people following each other. It said most users do not even know who they are speaking to because the platform relies on pseudonyms.
The filing also had definitions from the Oxford and Macquarie dictionaries to show how the word social is usually understood. Reddit said the platform’s main purpose is information exchange. It said users share posts and knowledge, and the system of upvotes and downvotes helps people judge whether a post is useful. Reddit said this is not the same as tools meant to connect people based on friendship or personal interest.
In its legal document, the company said the Act places one duty on platforms: to take reasonable steps to stop under 16 year olds from holding accounts. It said the rule does not ask providers to block access to material reachable without an account. Reddit pointed out that its content can be viewed while logged out and that the government’s own explanatory material says logged out access is not affected. The company said this makes its situation different from platforms that do not allow viewing without logging in.
How Does Reddit Explain Its Place Among The Banned Platforms?<.h2>
Reddit is one of 10 services covered under the age limit. The list also features TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, X, Kick and Threads. These platforms all fall under the new rules that restrict children under 16 from accessing them. ABC reporting noted that many teenagers say their lives have not changed since the rule came in, even though the law took a year to reach this point.
In a statement shared through the ABC, Reddit said its case is not about resisting the law and that it will keep complying. The company said it will keep speaking with the regulator and answering user questions. It said the aim is to help build a safer online space through methods that protect privacy and support access to information.
Reddit said it accepts the need to protect young people and wants the court to judge whether the current rule fits the platform. It said better, more privacy friendly tools may work better for families while avoiding intrusive checks for everyone else.
