Reddit off limits for Australian teens

International

POPULAR forum sute Reddit was not spared from Australia's world-first social media ban for children under 16.

The number of sites that will be banned starting next month has increased to nine as live-streaming platform Kick has been included in the list together with Facebook, X, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Threads.

In a report by BBC, tech companies can be fined up to A$50m ($32.5m; £25.7m) if they do not take "reasonable steps" to deactivate existing accounts for under-16s and prohibit new ones.

"Delaying children's access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features such as opaque algorithms and endless scroll," Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in the BBC report.

Excluded from the ban are messaging services Discord and WhatsApp and gaming platforms Lego Play and Roblox.

Google Classroom and YouTube Kids are also excluded.

Explaining the imposition of the ban, Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said the online platforms can target children with "chilling control" and the ban was about protecting children.

"We aren't chasing perfection, we are chasing a meaningful difference," she said.

It remained unclear how companies will implement the ban but some of the potential methods include using official ID documents, parental approval and facial recognition technology.(MyTVCebu)