WhatsApp and Reddit among sites that could face u16s ban

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

Transcript

00:00So it is an expanded list, as you say.

00:04It's more than the big fish that we've been used to hearing about, such as Facebook and

00:08Instagram and Snapchat and TikTok.

00:10This is more extensive.

00:13Roblox, Pinterest, Discord, Reddit, GitHub, which is a software sharing platform, some

00:20dating apps in there, Steam, Twitch.

00:23People will have varying levels of engagement with these and knowledge of these, of course,

00:26but it does give us a sense that it's going to be broader.

00:29Now, those companies have been written to by the eSafety Commissioner.

00:33It doesn't mean necessarily that they will be part of the ban.

00:37What they have been asked to do, though, is to self-assess, to say whether they think they

00:42should be included in the ban or not, and to make a case if they think that they shouldn't

00:48be.

00:49So, after that, it'll be up to the eSafety Commissioner to kind of assess that and decide her view.

00:55And there may be some disagreement there.

00:57So, thinking, for example, about Roblox, there are carve-outs within these rules for

01:03gaming platforms and for messaging platforms, for example, WhatsApp.

01:07So, people were not necessarily expecting that these platforms would be included.

01:13But what it does reveal is that the definition's a bit more complicated than we initially thought.

01:17You know, there may be hybrid purposes for some of these platforms.

01:23And, you know, the eSafety Commissioner is signalling here that she at least believes there's a discussion

01:28that needs to be had.

01:29We do know that the eSafety Commissioner will, you know, she'll make a call.

01:34That won't be legally binding, though.

01:38And so, what we may see happen is once the ban does come into effect on December 10 and

01:44we start to see enforcement, you know, her asking them for information, how are you complying

01:48with the ban, for example, that may be the point at which we see legal challenges come

01:53to the fore.

01:54And the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has said that she is bracing for those kinds

01:59of legal fights.