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Reddit blasts Australia's under-16 social media ban as 'inept' while High Court judges appear sceptical of its free-speech challenge

Noah Jones, a 16-year-old outside the scope of the ban, told reporters the law is "a stepping stone further and further to censorship" disguised as child safety.
Noah Jones, a 16-year-old outside the scope of the ban, told reporters the law is "a stepping stone further and further to censorship" disguised as child safety.

Australia's seven High Court judges on Tuesday opened a two-day hearing into constitutional challenges against the world's first law barring under-16s from holding accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Snapchat, X, Kick, Threads and Twitch. Two separate challenges — from Sydney rights group Digital Freedom Project and from Reddit itself — contend the ban violates implied rights to free political communication and privacy. Reddit's submission describes the restrictions as "ill-thought-out and overbroad," warning that driving children off platforms leaves them less safe, not more.

Reddit argues the ban is counterproductive: underage users without registered accounts lose access to platform safety features yet can still encounter harmful content.

Several justices pushed back sharply, indicating that the burden on children's political expression is not substantial and that the potential dangers of social media are far from trivial.

Former teen plaintiff Noah Jones, who is now 16 and falls outside the scope of the ban, called the law 'a stepping stone to censorship' outside court.

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