SOCIAL MEDIA BAN TODAY

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 10/12/2025

TODAY, hundreds of thousands of teenagers aged 13-16 will be kicked off of social media in Australia.

Sites such as Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Threads, Snapchat, Twitch, and TikTok have begun purging accounts of their younger users in Australia, despite most companies' opposition to doing so.

Two days ago, Reddit, a site subject to the ban, launched an appeal in the High Court, however have indicated that they will comply for the time being, leaving thousands of users' accounts in limbo until they turn 16.

While it is undeniably true that social media can have a negative impact on youth, and that impact can at times be fatal, for some youth in that age bracket, especially in regional and rural areas of the country, not having any access to social media, could be fatal. Thousands of young queer and disabled teenagers, especially in rural areas where discrimination is rife, rely on social media for their sense of community. In a community where isolation can be higher than the average, worsening that isolation will never have a positive impact.

The social media ban in Australia follows on from other countries, such as the United Kingdom, in introducing restrictions on access to social media,, however the specific design of our social media ban, restricting an entire age demographic, is a world first.