According to 9to5Mac, Australia will tomorrow become the first democratic country to ban children from using social media, a move targeting those under 16. This follows years of growing concern over social media’s impact on teen mental health, highlighted by a 2020 internal Meta report where 32% of teen girls said Instagram made them feel worse about their bodies. In response, Reddit is proactively implementing new global teen safety features, not just in Australia. These include stricter chat settings, no ad personalization, and a complete block on NSFW content for all users under 18. A 2023 reader poll showed strong support, with over two-thirds saying the US should “absolutely” enact a similar ban.
Reddit’s preemptive strike
Here’s the thing: Reddit is doing what every savvy company does when they see regulation coming. They’re getting ahead of it. By rolling these features out globally, they’re basically trying to build a single compliance framework instead of playing whack-a-mole with every new local law. It’s smart, even if their announcement sounds a bit grudging about Australia’s specific law. They see the puck heading toward stricter age-gating and content restrictions for minors everywhere. So, why not just build it once?
The skeptic’s view
But let’s be real. The giant, glaring question is: how do you actually verify age online? Reddit says it will “confirm their age responsibly and securely” in Australia, but that’s the trillion-dollar problem nobody has solved. Outside of Australia, it’s likely just a birthdate check, which any 13-year-old can bypass in seconds. And even if the tech works, does walling off teens from entire sections of the internet actually protect them, or just make them seek it out elsewhere? I think the intentions are probably good, but the execution has historically been a mess. Remember when the internet was supposed to be a wild west? Now we’re building digital playgrounds with very high fences.
A global trend kicking off
Australia isn’t going to be an outlier for long. The article notes a growing number of U.S. states and cities are looking at similar laws, and the political pressure is immense. When internal reports from the companies themselves show harm, regulators finally have the ammo they need. The public sentiment has clearly shifted. Parents are worried, and politicians are acting. So Reddit’s move isn’t just about one country; it’s a bet that this is the new normal. Other platforms will almost certainly have to follow, tailoring their own versions of a walled garden for teens. The era of treating a 13-year-old’s account the same as a 30-year-old’s is ending.
What it actually means
For teens on Reddit, it means a more sanitized experience. No more r/AskReddit threads with mature themes, no personalized ads (a privacy win, honestly), and limited chat. Will it work? It might reduce exposure to blatantly harmful content. But it also feels like treating a symptom. The deeper issues—like algorithmic promotion of extreme content, bullying, and the performative pressure of social media—aren’t solved by a content filter. It’s a first step, a necessary one maybe, but far from a complete solution. The real test is whether these platforms can make their core product less toxic, not just hide the toxicity from a certain age group.
