Reddit was hit with a new setback by Australia a day after a widespread outage in the United States.
According to Al Jazeera, Australia has decided to add Reddit into its upcoming landmark social media ban for children under 16.
Australia’s online safety commissioner has announced that it will include online forum Reddit and livestreaming platform Kick along with the other seven apps that will be banned for under-16s under the world’s first such social media ban for children.
Communications Minister Anika Wells on Wednesday, November 5, said that Reddit and Kick will also be accessible for under-16s along with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube after the ban goes into effect on December 10, 2025.
Wells told reporters in Canberra, “Online platforms use technology to target children with chilling control. We are merely asking that they use that same technology to keep children safe online.”
“We have met with several of the social media platforms in the past month so that they understand there is no excuse for failure to implement this law. We want children to have a childhood, and we want parents to have peace of mind,” she added.
Australia passed the landmark online safety law last November, giving social media platforms a year to prepare for the ban on users under 16.
The communication minister also warned that the list that initially had Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube would continue to expand and change with time.
