Khaberni - The social media platform "Reddit" launched on Friday a legal challenge against Australia's ban on social media for those under 16 years old.
According to the law, which came into effect last Wednesday, people under the age of 16 are no longer allowed to own their own accounts on 10 major social media platforms, including Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube.
In a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court, Reddit argued that the ban violates political free speech and poses risks to privacy.
Reddit said in a post on the platform that it takes the safety of young people online seriously and that the legal action is not an attempt to evade compliance.
It added: "However, we believe there are more effective ways for the Australian government to achieve our shared goal of protecting youth."
Reddit said the law was inaccurately applied to it, explaining that unlike other platforms covered by this law, the vast majority of Reddit users are adults, and "we do not market or target advertisements to children under the age of 18, and we had a '+17' age rating in the Apple App Store before the law."
Affected companies have been given one year to introduce age verification measures, and violations will result in hefty fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (33 million U.S. dollars).
The Australian Health Minister, Mark Butler accused the social media platform (Reddit) of prioritizing profit over safety.
He said "Throughout our history, when our governments have taken strong measures to protect citizens against highly addictive and harmful products, they are usually challenged in the courts by the businesses that profit the most from them."
He added, "However, the idea that this is an action by the Reddit platform to protect the political freedoms of young people is sheer nonsense.. The government will strongly resist this measure."
