Reddit argues it’s not like other social platforms in case against Australia’s social media ban | TechCrunch

In a move worthy of a post on the Subreddit Not like other girlsReddit, one of the world’s largest social platforms, argues it is not like other real social media sites as the company seeks to overturn Australia’s law banning children under 16 from social media.

In one lawsuit filed in Australia’s highest courtReddit argues that the law, which came into effect on December 10, restricts free political discourse by preventing children from airing their opinions online and should be overturned.

And if the legislation isn’t reversed, the company says it should be exempt from the law because it doesn’t meet the law’s definition of a “social media platform.”

Reddit is essentially asking Australia’s High Court to answer a number of questions about the legislation, which requires ten major services to deactivate accounts of children under 16 and prevent them from using the app. Critics claim the law infringes on children’s rights, and companies have tried to raise questions about what “social media” even defines.

Reddit called itself a “collection of public forums organized by topic” and brought up definitions of the word “social” in its filing to argue that “it is not the sole or major purpose of Reddit to enable individuals to interact with each other ‘in a social manner’.”

“Reddit enables online interactions over the content that users post to the site. It facilitates the sharing of knowledge from one user to other users. It is not a major purpose of the site to enable interactions 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 users to “befriend” each other, post photos about themselves, or host events,” the filing said.

In one after In the filing, Reddit administrator LastBluejay said the law “raises some serious privacy and political speech issues for everyone on the internet.”

“While we agree with the importance of protecting people under the age of 16, this law has the unfortunate effect of imposing intrusive and potentially unsafe verification processes on both adults and minors, isolating teens from the opportunity to participate in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions), and creating an illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which are not,” the post reads.

Reddit also points out that a significant amount of content on social media platforms can be accessed without an account, and that children under 16 would be more easily protected if they were allowed to have accounts that could then be restricted.