Name: Reddit challenges Australia’s under-16 social media ban in High Court
Uploaded: 2025-12-12T06:09:04.556Z
Duration: 3 min 25 s
Description: Reddit and teenagers have launched High Court challenges against Australia’s new under-16 social media ban, arguing the law forces intrusive age checks and unlawfully restricts young people’s online expression.

Reddit and teenagers have launched High Court challenges against Australia’s new under-16 social media ban, arguing the law forces intrusive age checks and unlawfully restricts young people’s online expression.

Canberra

Australia’s government is facing mounting legal challenges to its new law banning social media access for those under 16, with Reddit and two teenagers launching High Court cases. Reddit argues the law imposes intrusive verification processes and restricts teens' ability to engage in age-appropriate online communities, while the teenagers claim it constitutes government censorship.

Meanwhile, scrutiny over parliamentary expenses has intensified, with two MPs referring themselves for independent audits following costly taxpayer-funded trips. As the government prepares to announce a budget deficit exceeding $12 billion, calls for reform of politicians’ perks have increased, with bipartisan support offered for change.

Reddit challenges Australia’s under-16 social media ban in High Court

A soggy start for the Prime Minister. We're going to be the entry to that at ACDC concert. Anthony Albanese forced to make a quick retreat during his visit to the New South Wales Hunter, unveiling his plan to keep the Tomago smelter open beyond 2028. We've got your back. But tonight, it's his government's world-first social media ban that's copping the heat. Reddit, one of the platforms banned for Aussie teens under the age of 16, launching a High Court challenge. This is about safety of our children going forward. In a post to the platform that has more than 13 million Australian users, Reddit argues the social media ban forces intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences, including political discussions. This law is applied to Reddit inaccurately. The idea that this is some action by Reddit to protect the political freedoms of young people is a complete crock. Reddit says the High Court challenge isn't about skipping compliance or fears of losing business. It says the legislation simply misses the mark when it comes to better protecting Australian children online. It's also not the only legal challenge the Albanese government is facing. 15-year-old Noah Jones and Macy Nayland are also challenging the ban in the High Court. The internet is the greatest machine mankind has ever built. We need to keep it free and away from the heavy hand of government censorship. We will fight this action every step of the way. Time now to bring in our federal political reporter, Matthew Karstunen, who's in our newsroom. Matt, the parliamentary expenses saga has certainly deepened. The Attorney-General now referring herself to the independent watchdog. Yeah, good evening, Sandra. Michelle Rowland is the second MP to have her expenses audited, referring herself to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority over a week-long trip with the family back to Perth in July 2023. It cost taxpayers nearly $22,000. It follows the self-referral of Communications Minister Annika Wells and her expenses to the watchdog when it was revealed $100,000 in taxpayer funds was spent flying herself and two staffers to New York to promote the under-16s' social media ban. But the pressure is being piled on the Albanese government tonight to seriously consider reforms when it comes to perks for politicians, with Opposition Leader Susan Lee writing a letter to the Prime Minister offering bipartisan support to look at those reforms. Anthony Albanese was grilled again today during his visit to The Hunter about this ongoing saga, admitting he has sought advice from the watchdog. And we'll take that on board. And when that advice is received, we'll make a decision in the usual way. I'm working through summer. I can sit down with the Prime Minister any time and go through measures that he would like to propose, to implement, to restore that public trust. All this as the government prepares to hand down its mid-year budget next week, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers expected to reveal the budget has blown out by more than $12 billion, meaning they'll have to make some tough choices. The optics aren't good. Sandra? Indeed. Matthew Kastudin in there. Thank you.

For the first time, Amnesty International has accused Hamas and its allies of committing crimes against humanity, following an investigation into the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel. The organization found that 1,221 people were killed and said the mass killing of civilians amounted to extermination.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Amnesty accuses Hamas of 'crimes against humanity' for Oct. 7 attack

The “Architects of AI” were named Time's person of the year Thursday, with the magazine citing 2025 as when the potential of artificial intelligence “roared into view” with no turning back.

Rise of AI

Time magazine names 'Architects of AI' as person of the year for 2025

Message board website Reddit filed a lawsuit on Friday (December 12) asking Australia's High Court to overturn the country's social media ban for people under 16 as well as its inclusion in it, calling the law an infringement of free political expression.

Council of the City of Sydney

Reddit sues to overturn Australian social media ban

As tensions rise with Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump said land operations could start "pretty soon." Sources tell CBS News the administration is also planning more tanker seizures.

Washington

Trump says Venezuela land operations could begin 'pretty soon'

One day after capturing an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast, the U.S. has sanctioned three of Nicolas Maduro's nephews, along with six other oil tankers.

Trump ramps up pressure on Maduro with new sanctions

The EU has decided to keep the assets of the Russian Central Bank immobilised for the foreseeable future. The ban, which is based on a provision for economic emergencies, pushes back against external attempts to release the €210 billion in assets before Ukraine is compensated.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

EU triggers emergency clause to indefinitely immobilise Russian assets

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she planned to take her award back to Venezuela, but declined to say when she would return to her home country after leaving in great secrecy to receive the honor.

Caracas

Nobel peace laureate Machado vows to take award home to Venezuela

Japanese authorities are assessing damage after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan, followed by multiple aftershocks. In response, officials have issued a warning about the possibility of a megaquake, defined as a magnitude 8.0 or higher event.

Tokyo

Japan alerts citizens about possible megaquake

A Maryland judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from ICE custody. Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and was later detained for potential deportation to another country.

Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immediate release from ICE custody

About 500,000 people are fleeing renewed clashes on the Thailand-Cambodia border. Over a dozen were killed as fighting shatters a US-Malaysia-brokered peace deal amid a decades-old temple land dispute.

Samraong

Half a million flee as Thailand-Cambodia border clashes escalate

The U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions with Caracas.

Trump confirms seizing of Venezuelan oil tanker

The U.S. House has approved a bill to end all Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, sparking cautious optimism in Damascus as the measure moves closer to becoming law.

U.S. House votes to lift Caesar Act sanctions on Syria

Myanmar's military bombs a hospital in western Rakhine state, at least 31 people are killed and dozens injured.

Rakhine

Air strike in Myanmar killed at least 31 people, dozens injured

The U.S. military seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the ship had been used to violate sanctions on oil from Venezuela and Iran.

U.S. seizes oil tanker off Venezuela coast

The daughter of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother's behalf in Oslo, Norway. Machado, who lives in hiding in Venezuela, is set to make an address on Thursday.

Oslo

Venezuela's Machado awarded Nobel Peace Prize in absentia

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is commenting on potential elections in Ukraine under certain conditions. Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst joins CBS News with more on the war against Russia.

Kyiv

Zelenskyy prepared to hold elections after Trump questions motive

A renewed outbreak of fighting between Thailand and Cambodia has derailed a US-brokered peace agreement, with cross-border shelling and air raids forcing more than half a million civilians to flee their homes.

Bangkok

Border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia flares up again

U.S. immigration agents used pepper spray against protesters in Minneapolis on Tuesday as residents blocked the officers’ vehicles and forced them to leave the area.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis protests erupt over ICE operation targeting Somalis

In Australia, millions of kids' social media profiles are going dark, as the country's new social media ban takes effect for anyone under 16. Jo Ling Kent reports.

Australia's social media ban takes effect for kids under 16

President Trump, in recent months, has dismissed concerns about affordability, but this evening, in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, he is focusing on the crisis and touting his administration's efforts to lower the cost of living. Nancy Cordes has more.

Pennsylvania

Trump tries to flip the script on affordability

Dozens of protesters blocked a highway near Tel Aviv to demonstrate against moves by the Israeli government to force some ultra-Orthodox Jews into mandatory military service, something they are currently exempt from so they can study the Torah full time.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Bill over ultra-Orthodox military conscription sparks protests in Israel

President Trump has told Politico that Nicolas Maduro's "days are numbered" in Venezuela. Political strategists Kevin Sheridan and Hyma Moore join with analysis.

Trump says Maduro’s “days are numbered”

The FBI has released a new photo of former Olympian Ryan Wedding, whom the bureau’s director has described as a “modern day iteration of Pablo Escobar.” The ex-skier and snowboarder remains at large as agents continue their search.

FBI releases new photo of alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Pope Leo XIV and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Tuesday (December 9), meanwhile voicing his refusal to surrender territory to Moscow despite pressure from Washington for territorial concessions.

Rome

Zelenskyy seeks backing from Pope Leo XIV, Italian PM Meloni

A federal judge said Tuesday (December 9) that the Department of Justice can unseal the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case records. CBS News' Scott MacFarlane has more details.

Judge says DOJ can unseal Ghislaine Maxwell trafficking case records

Prosecutors on Monday (December 8) released new evidence seized from Luigi Mangione on the day of his arrest. He is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson a year ago and has pleaded not guilty.

Manhattan

New evidence introduced in Luigi Mangione case

The EU antitrust enforcer has opened an investigation into the U.S. tech giant over its use of online content to power its AI services, a move that threatens to ratchet up transatlantic relations.

Brussels

EU Commission opens probe into Google over AI

The U.S. government said the approval, which comes in exchange for a 25% surcharge, would also be available to other chipmakers like Intel and AMD.

Trump gives Nvidia green light to sell H200 chips to China

Ukraine is set to present a revised peace plan to the United States on Tuesday following President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s talks in London with the leaders of France, Germany, and Britain.

London

Ukraine to share revised peace plan with U.S., Zelenskiy says

The International Criminal Court Tuesday handed down a sentence of 20 years to a Sudanese militia leader for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country's civil war two decades ago.

Breakdown