In a move worthy of a post on the Not Like Other Girls subreddit, Reddit, one of the world’s largest social platforms, is arguing that it isn’t like other, actual social media sites, as the company seeks to overturn Australia’s law banning children under 16 years of age from social media.
In a lawsuit filed with Australia’s top court, Reddit argues the law, which came into force on December 10, limits free political discourse by preventing children from airing their views online, and should be overturned.
And if the legislation isn’t overturned, the company says it should be exempted from the law because it doesn’t meet the legislation’s definition of a “social media platform.”
Reddit is essentially asking the Australian High Court to address some of the questions raised about the legislation, which requires 10 major services to deactivate under-16s’ accounts and prevent them from using the app. Critics argue that the law infringes on children’s rights, and companies have sought to raise questions about what “social media” even defines.
Indeed, calling itself a “collection of public fora arranged by subject,” Reddit brought up definitions of the word “social” in its filing to make the case that “it is not the sole or a significant purpose of Reddit to enable persons to interact ‘in a social manner’.”
“Reddit enables online interactions about the content that users post on the site. It facilitates knowledge sharing from one user to other users. It is not a significant purpose of the site to enable interactions engaged in because of a particular user’s relationship with or interest in another user as a person […] Reddit is significantly different from other sites that allow for users to become “friends” with one another, or to post photos about themselves, or to organise events,” the filing reads.
In a post accompanying the filing, Reddit admin LastBluejay said the law carries “some serious privacy and political expression issues for everyone on the internet.”
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“While we agree with the importance of protecting people under 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions), and creating an illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which aren’t,” the post reads.
Reddit also points out that a significant portion of content on social media platforms is accessible without an account, and kids under 16 years old would be more easily protected if they were allowed to have accounts that could then be restricted.