Credit: Dole777 via Unsplash
Reddit and video streamer Kick have been added to the list of social media platforms required to comply with Australia’s new minimum age rules from December 10.
They join the six previously announced services; Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said the eight services meet the criteria for an age-restricted platform because a “sole or a significant purpose is to enable online social interaction".
Platforms including Discord, GitHub, LEGO Play, Roblox, Steam and Steam Chat, Google Classroom, Messenger, WhatsApp and YouTube Kids are not currently subject to the restrictions.
eSafety said it will continue to reassess platforms as technology evolves and may update its guidance when services change or new ones emerge.
Services that fail to comply may face penalties of up to $49.5 million.
The rules were passed in parliament last year and form part of Australia’s world-first Social Media Minimum Age restriction.
Inman Grant said delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them time to learn and grow.
“Free of the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features such as opaque algorithms and endless scroll,” Inman Grant said.
“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.”
Inman Grant said age restrictions are an important tool in the commission’s approach to online safety.
“Ultimately, all online platforms should be building less harmful, age-appropriate experiences through safety by design,” she said.
“Where they are not, we will apply the Online Safety Act’s mandatory codes and standards and supplement with robust prevention and education resources for Australians.”
Inman Grant said parents should remain engaged even where services are not age-restricted.
“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,” she said.
The inclusion of Reddit follows months of debate and industry response to the government’s plan to set a national minimum age for social media use.
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