Australia’s under-16 social media ban is kicking off in just over a month, with Reddit and Kick set to go dark alongside the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube on December 10.

But weeks before implementation, the government is still figuring out which platforms qualify under its own definitions, while insisting their assessments followed “rigorous” processes. And in a Wednesday morning press conference, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant made a startling admission: platforms weren’t assessed based on the harms they pose to children.

“This is not a safety, a harms or risk-based assessment,” Inman Grant told reporters. “These were criteria for assessment contained in the legislative rules.”

It’s a remarkable concession. Australia’s world-first ban isn’t bloc

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