WhatsApp and Reddit on expanded list of sites covered by under 16s social media ban

ABC NEWS (Australia)

WhatsApp, Roblox, Reddit and Discord are among an expanded list of platforms which the ABC can reveal may be covered by the under 16s social media ban.

Transcript

00:00There are some unexpected names on this list, a little bit of a surprise.

00:06We've of course known for some time about the bigger platforms that would be covered

00:10by the ban, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and Snapchat, but this

00:16list is new.

00:18So eSafety has written to 16 companies and those include Meta, well, but specifically

00:26concerning WhatsApp, Roblox, Pinterest, Discord, Reddit, GitHub, Match, which is a company

00:34which runs dating sites such as Tinder and Hinge, Steam and also Twitch.

00:42So it's a significantly longer list than the one we're used to.

00:46I do want to stress that not all of these will necessarily end up being included in the ban

00:52and they've been asked to complete a self-assessment by the eSafety Commissioner to basically make

00:58a case if they believe they're not, you know, they should be exempt from the ban, that they

01:02have to say so and provide evidence.

01:06And she's said very clearly that she wants to give everyone, you know, a due process there

01:11and really hear them out.

01:13But yes, whether or not, you know, what she decides ultimately will be a separate question,

01:20this is a signal at least that she does see those platforms as being in scope.

01:26And in that process, I mean, what happens if the platforms don't agree that they should

01:30be part of the ban?

01:32Yeah, it may actually come down to a legal challenge ultimately.

01:37The eSafety Commissioner has said that she is bracing for some differences in opinion.

01:42We were expecting some of those platforms, certainly, you know, Roblox and WhatsApp jump

01:47out of the list as, you know, that they would be exempt because there are carve-outs for example,

01:53for gaming platforms and for messaging platforms.

01:56But it is a bit more complicated than it first appears as these things, you know, often are

02:01where platforms may have a dual purpose, they may be kind of hybrid.

02:06And so there is, you know, an argument to be had there at least so far as the eSafety Commissioner

02:11is concerned.

02:12So if we do see, you know, legal challenges to this, it could well take place after the

02:17ban comes into effect on December 10 and, you know, the eSafety Commissioner starts trying

02:22to enforce these rules.

02:24And that may be the moment when you start to see platforms push back in a legal way.

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