Kick and Reddit are restricted to minors in Australia as part of the country's new online safety initiative. The legislation, which significantly restricts access to platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Threads, is expected to come into force this December.
The Australian eSafety Commission has cracked down on platforms deemed harmful to minors under a set of legislative rules introduced by the Minister for Communications in July 2025. Essentially, this lawmaker is labeling any social media platform (like any website or app specifically designed for online socializing) as potentially harmful to minors, and such platforms will be subject to stricter verification methods once the law comes into force. Platforms affected by the legislation will have to take “reasonable steps” to verify a user's age, and anyone identified as under 16 will be severely restricted from using that platform. In most cases, this will simply mean that underage users will not be able to create new accounts, preventing them from engaging in key features such as posting, commenting and friending or following other users. Companies that violate these laws can be fined up to AUD$49.5 million.
The eSafety Commission strongly believes that these laws represent a “delay” for underage users and has chosen not to call it a “ban” because underage users will not face penalties if they bypass any age verification procedures.
Kick, Reddit and others are heavily restricted for underage users in Australia
These new laws will also apply to Reddit and Kick, even though these platforms are not often considered traditional social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Dexerto reports that Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells announced the inclusion of these platforms on November 4, 2025, placing them alongside six other restricted sites, including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
The law is intended to apply to any service or platform whose “sole or significant purpose” is to “enable online social interaction.” The eSafety Commission believed that platforms with social elements that are designed primarily for activities such as gaming or messaging are exempt from the law. This means that platforms like RobloxSteam and Twitch, despite being reviewed by the eSafety Commission earlier this year, will not be affected.
It would hardly be the first time a major government has tried to ban or restrict access to social media. Video-sharing behemoth TikTok, for example, is technically banned in the US as of January 2025, although the Trump administration is not enforcing those restrictions. In a recent statement, Minister Wells acknowledged the complexity and difficulty of these laws, saying: “We're not chasing perfection, we're chasing meaningful difference”.
