Reddit pushes back against Australia Ban

Governments around the world are taking a much closer look at social media, especially when it comes to children, privacy, and online influence. One of the most significant moves so far is Australia’s proposed under 16 social media ban, a policy that has already sparked legal challenges and global debate.

Communities across the web have observed the growing international trend towards a more regulated, less anonymous internet and interpreted it as a push for control, data, and access limitations. Recently, Reddit launched a legal challenge to the ban, citing restricted political communications and privacy concerns.

This article will recap the U16s ban, and dive into Reddit’s push-back.

What Is Australia’s Under 16 Social Media Ban?

Australia has introduced legislation aimed at restricting access to major social media platforms for users under the age of 16. The stated goal is to reduce online harm, protect children’s mental health, and limit exposure to inappropriate or manipulative content.

The policy places responsibility on platforms to verify age, enforce access limits, and potentially restrict features or accounts entirely. This creates a major shift in how social media platforms operate and how users interact with them. The ban has drawn criticism from the privacy community, and naturally, Aussie kids. However, it’s also been widely praised by the international community.

Surprisingly, at the time of writing the ban has excluded some platforms that have multiple documented examples of harm to young people (Discord, Roblox). By contrast, Reddit is included in the ban, despite accommodating far less interaction between strangers when compared to Roblox or Discord.

Why Reddit Is Pushing Back

Reddit has launched a legal challenge against the ban, arguing that the policy could restrict political communication and raise serious privacy concerns. According to public reporting, Reddit claims the law could interfere with how people access information, participate in discussions, and express opinions online.

Other concerns raised include:

• Forced age verification systems
• Increased data collection to prove eligibility
• Reduced anonymity on platforms that rely on open discussion

This challenge highlights a growing tension between governments and platforms over who controls online spaces.

Reddit’s argument, as it’s framed, isn’t really an argument. Platforms that comply with Australia’s ban will need to collect more user data, store it for longer, and make use of it for age verification.

What this challenge will really test is: will the costs of the ban (access to information, open discussion and expression) be worth the benefits of the ban (compliance, and ideally, an internet that exposes kids to less harm), in the context of Reddit.

How This Could Affect Everyday Users

Even if you are not under 16, this kind of legislation can still affect you.

Reduced Privacy: Age verification will require more personal data. That can mean uploading selfies or ID documents, linking accounts, or allowing platforms to track you more closely.

Platform Changes: To comply with laws, platforms may remove features, lock accounts, or limit interactions. Some content may become inaccessible or permanently restricted.

Loss of Control Over Old Content: As regulation increases, platforms may tighten rules around editing, deleting, or accessing past posts. What you shared years ago may be judged under today’s standards.

A Global Ripple Effect: Australia is being seen as a testing ground for digital regulation. If this policy holds, similar rules could appear in other countries. See: United Kingdom ID Checks.

Why This Matters for Your Existing Social Media History

Most people have years of posts, comments, likes, and messages spread across multiple platforms. These were created under very different rules and expectations.

As laws change, users may face:

• Increased scrutiny of old posts
• Platform driven moderation decisions
• Limited tools to clean up their own history
• Accounts frozen or restricted before changes can be made

Once platforms are forced to comply with strict regulations, user control often comes second.

How Redact Helps You Stay in Control

Redact allows people to erase their social media posts, comments, likes, and messages across 30+ platforms before rules, restrictions, or platform changes make that harder or impossible.

With Redact, you can:

• Review your full social media history
• Delete posts by date, keyword, or platform
• Remove content in bulk rather than one by one
• Take control of your digital footprint on your terms

As social media regulations tighten, having the ability to clean up your online presence now can prevent problems later.

Download Redact.dev now and take back control of your online presence.

Redact supports a massive range of major social media and productivity platforms – like Twitter, Facebook, Discord, Reddit and more.