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High Court Hears Bid to Overturn Australia Social Media Ban
The court will weigh free-communication and privacy claims against the government’s case that the ban protects children, with fines reaching A$99 million for breaches.
- On Tuesday, Australia's High Court began a two-day hearing on constitutional challenges to the nation's landmark under-16 social media ban, with the Digital Freedom Project and Reddit arguing the law unconstitutionally restricts political communication.
- Plaintiffs contend the ban places an unreasonable burden on Australia's implied freedom of political communication by excluding youth from civic engagement and online political discourse.
- Under the ban, 10 platforms must take "reasonable steps" to prevent under-16 access, risking fines up to US$70m; nearly 5 million accounts have been blocked since December.
- International groups including NetChoice, the British-based Free Speech Union, and the Electric Frontier Foundation have sought to appear as a "friend of the court," while state attorneys-general submitted arguments supporting the Commonwealth.
- The Commonwealth maintains the rules are "consultative, targeted, and changeable" to protect children from engagement-driven social media harms, while the Labor government simultaneously pushes a separate digital duty of care bill.
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High Court hears bid to overturn Australia social media ban
Social media companies have been forced to purge millions of accounts after Australia banned under-16s from the likes of Facebook, TikTok and Reddit last December. The High Court of Australia will sit on Tuesday and Wednesday as Reddit, one of the most popular websites in the world, argues the laws are misguided and should be overturned. Reddit has highlighted a number of issues in its written submission to the court, pointing to problems enfor…
·Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
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Social network and Digital Freedom Project, led by NSW state MP John Ruddick, seek to overturn ban on grounds of implied freedom of political communication
Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left2Leaning Right3Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 20%
C 50%
R 30%
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