Australia’s High Court hears bid to overturn under-16s social media ban

Australia’s High Court is hearing a challenge by Reddit and advocacy group Digital Freedom Project to the ban on social media use by under-16s, which took effect last December. Reddit questions how effectively the ban can be enforced and says there is no scientific consensus on social media’s harms. It argues that deleting young users’ accounts may leave them more exposed because some content remains accessible without an account, where built-in safety features are unavailable. An August study by Australia-based researchers also found little evidence that teenagers had stopped using social media.