Yet another major social media player is set to kill accounts for under 16s as the ban is set to go into effect. Reddit will enact the rules, joining the likes of Meta, Snapchat, and others.
‘Twas the eve of the December 10 and all through the net,
The voices of teenagers were shouting, of that you can bet.
Politicians were roaring, cheering a ban with delight,
And those under 16 were gearing up for a fight.
That’s the way things are leading into December 10 as Australia’s controversial social media law is set to go into effect, with damning consequences for social media services that don’t take reasonable steps to cut off access to under 16s, but no penalties at all for parents and kids who choose to ignore it altogether.
In the past few weeks, we’ve seen several social media organisations talk about what they plan to do, with Meta locking down accounts and enacting age verification, Snapchat doing the same with its own flavour of age checking, TikTok announcing much the same, and YouTube just outright deciding to pull the plug on under-age accounts instead of bothering with proof of age.
And on the eve of the December 10 deadline, Reddit has announced what it is doing, as well.
Australian Reddit account-holders aged between 13 and 15 will have their accounts suspended from December 10, with 16 years now the minimum age for Reddit in Australia. Under 13s will see their accounts deleted, though that is apparently a long-standing policy, with 13 originally the minimum age for Reddit around the world.
For local accounts, the system will start using signals to predict whether someone is under the age of 16, and then use this as a mechanism to check a birthdate. If your account is locked or suspended, you’ll be able to appeal with your birthdate.
Moving forward, new Reddit accounts in Australia will be asked for a birth date during sign up, with teen accounts under 18 set to have more strict rules on chat, no access to mature content, and no personalisation to ads, either.
But like YouTube logged-out access will remain, which means anyone under the age of 16 can potentially still see content on Reddit, just without logging in and responding. Not all communities will be accessible, but many will, just without the ability to engage, interact, and respond.
At this time, one of the last hold-outs for a response is X, which hasn’t yet noted whether it will comply. However, X does offer age assurance for under 18s in the EU, which suggests it will likely comply with the Australian government ruling when December 10 ticks over.
