Teenagers launch legal challenge over Australia’s ban on social media for under 16s

The High Court challenge comes just two weeks before the law - a world-first - is set to take effect.

From December 10, platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram must block Australians aged under 16 from holding accounts, a move expected to deactivate more than one million profiles.

While the law has been justified by campaigners as necessary to protect children from harmful content, two fifteen-year-olds, Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, have claimed the ban will silence young people.

The teenagers, who have been listed as plaintiffs in the case, are being backed by the Digital Freedom Project (DFP) which announced on Wednesday that it had initiated legal proceedings to block the law.

The group has said that the proposed law will harm vulnerable groups who rely on online connection and unconstitutionally strips young people of their right to political communication.

Macy said: "We shouldn't be silenced. It's like Orwell's book 1984, and that scares me."

Read more: Denmark to ban social media for under-15s as phones are 'stealing childhoods'

Read more: Social media sites call for Australia to delay its ban on child use

Noah called the government’s policy “lazy” - arguing that digital safeguards, not blanket bans, should protect children.

DFP has contended that the law disproportionately impacts children with disabilities, First Nations youth, rural and remote teens and LGBTQIA+ young people, who may be pushed into less safe online spaces if forced to circumvent the rules.

After news of the case broke, Communications Minister Anika Wells told parliament the government would not be swayed.

She said: "We will not be intimidated by threats. We will not be intimidated by legal challenges. We will not be intimidated by big tech. On behalf of Australian parents, we will stand firm."

Australian media have reported that YouTube has also considered mounting a constitutional challenge, though polling shows most adults support the crackdown.

Tech companies face fines of up to A$49.5m (£24.4m) for failing to enforce the ban.

The dispute is being closely watched internationally as other countries debate similar measures, as Denmark announced earlier this month that it will ban the use of social media for children under the age of 15.

This comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned this week that children are being “abandoned to the Wild West of the online world,” despite the internet’s potential to offer community and opportunity.

While attending an event at The King’s Fund, the Health Secretary was asked about the bans proposed in Denmark and Australia.

He said: “On one hand, social media and the internet means that young people growing up in our country today have a whole world of opportunity, a whole range of horizons that we could scarcely imagine when we were growing up.

“But the analogy I would draw is, especially for children who are sort of a school age, maybe just between primary and secondary school, making that transition from one to the other, giving a kid a smartphone unsupervised is a bit like giving kids a box of tools with a hammer and nails and saying ‘off you go’ without supervision."

Streeting admitted he was worried about the "mind-numbing impact of doomscrolling on social media on young minds", adding that an approach must be found that would allow children to use social media "safely and effectively".

Though opposed by the tech companies who will be charged with enforcing it, the ban is supported by most Australian adults, according to polls.