The ban hammer drops, and the stage is set.
Welcome to the future… maybe: Australia’s under-16 social media ban officially launched on December 10.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube, and Reddit now have to deactivate accounts for users under 16 or face fines up to $50M.
The government admits compliance will be gradual, so don’t expect a clean sweep overnight.
This means your audience demographics have now shifted. If you’ve been targeting Gen Z on these platforms, a chunk of your youngest segment just disappeared. Together with their parents’ wallets.
Time to recalibrate your targeting parameters and audit your campaign performance data.
But it looks like Reddit isn’t going to roll over that easily: The platform filed a High Court lawsuit challenging the ban.
It claims the ban violates children’s rights to political communication and creates an “illogical patchwork” of which platforms get banned versus exempted.
Reddit argues its primary purpose is content engagement, not social interaction. Still, it’s complying for now using an age prediction model.
If Reddit wins, other platforms might challenge the ban too, potentially reversing audience changes you’ve already adapted to.
The outcome here could set the tone for similar laws in other places you do business…
