Overview
- Reddit’s High Court filing argues the law infringes the implied freedom of political communication and says the platform is misclassified as an age‑restricted social media service.
- The application seeks to invalidate the statute or exclude Reddit from it, naming the Commonwealth of Australia and Communications Minister Anika Wells as defendants.
- Reddit says it is complying during the challenge, introducing birthdate collection for new Australian users, an age‑prediction model that can suspend suspected under‑16 accounts, and an appeals process.
- The eSafety Commissioner has issued compulsory information notices to the ten covered platforms to report under‑16 deactivations, with six‑monthly monitoring and fines of up to A$49.5 million for serious breaches.
- The government vows to defend the law as a child‑safety measure as a separate teen‑backed challenge heads to a February directions hearing, with a protracted legal timeline anticipated.