Reddit, one of the largest social media platforms, has made its case amid the social media ban on teens currently being enforced in Australia. The platform has argued that it is not like other actual social media websites, as it seeks to overturn its ban.
Reddit and other social media websites were banned in line with an Australian law banning children under 16 years from accessing social media. In seeking to overturn the ban, Reddit has filed a lawsuit with Australia’s top court, arguing that the law, which went into effect on December 10, limits free political discourse by preventing children from sharing their views online. The platform has also urged the court to overturn the law.
According to its plea, Reddit made it clear that if the court did not overturn the legislation, the platform should be exempted from the law. It notes that this is due in part to the platform not meeting the legislation’s definition of a “social media platform.” The platform is essentially asking the Australian High Court to address some of the questions that were raised about the legislation.
The legislation mandated that up to 10 major social media platforms deactivate accounts belonging to users under 16 years old. In addition to the deactivation, the platforms were also asked to prevent such users from accessing the application, a development that critics have argued as “infringing on children’s rights.” It has also seen companies raising questions about what is defined as “social media.”
In its statement, Reddit called itself “a collection of public fora arranged by subject,” bringing up the definition of the word “social” in its filing to make its case that it is not the sole or major purpose of Reddit to enable interactions between multiple people socially. Reddit mentioned that it only enables interaction about the content that users post on its website, noting that it helps to facilitate knowledge sharing between different users on its platform.
Critics show displeasure at the law
The platform also added that it is not its core purpose to enable these interactions because of a user’s relationship with another. “Reddit is significantly different from other sites that allow for users to become ‘friends’ with one another, or to post photos about themselves, or to organize events,” the filing said. In the post accompanying the filing, the platform also noted that the law holds “some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet.”
“While we agree with the importance of protecting people under 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions), and creating an illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which aren’t,” the post reads.
Reddit also points out that the major aspect of social media is accessible without owning an account. It highlighted some measures that could be taken by the country to help kids under 16 years old, instead of taking this approach. Reddit mentioned that instead of outlawing social media, they can develop legislation to protect these kids by allowing them to own accounts that could be restricted. However, it remains to be seen how Australia would pull this off if it agrees to it.
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