Australia's under-16s social media ban faces courtroom test

澳大利亚16岁以下青少年社交媒体禁令面临法庭考验

World Business Report

2025-12-13

8 分钟
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Gideon Long takes a look as online discussion forum Reddit challenges Australia’s ban on social media for under-16s. Plus, after Ben from Ben & Jerry’s criticises the ice-cream maker’s owners, they hit back — speaking exclusively to the BBC. And why are general strikes spreading across several European countries?
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  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

  • Want to know how to become the richest person in the world?

  • Start with the latest episode of our podcast, Good Bad Billionaire.

  • We're telling the story of how Elon Musk amassed half a trillion dollars from his troubled childhood in South Africa to buying Twitter and launching rockets into space with all the boardroom dramas along the way.

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  • Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

  • Plus, after Ben from Ben & Jerry's ice cream hits out at the company's owners, the owners hit back.

  • And why are so many countries in Europe seeing general strikes at the moment?

  • The online discussion forum Reddit is talking taking the Australian government to court over its social media ban for under-16s.

  • It says the ban has serious implications for privacy and political rights and should be overturned.

  • Australia's Health Minister Mark Butler said the government won't back down.

  • Across our history,

  • when our governments have taken strong action to protect citizens against highly addictive,

  • highly damaging products,

  • they've usually been challenged in the courts by the companies that profit most from them.

  • But the idea that this is some action by Reddit to protect the political freedoms of young people is a complete crock.

  • What it is is action taken to protect the profits that they make at the expense of the mental health of young people.

  • And we will fight this action every step of the way.

  • So what is Reddit and do young people use it?

  • My colleague, Bizi Adebayo, has been taking a look at this and is with me now.