Two 15 year-old Australian teenagers are challenging the country’s upcoming social media ban at the nation’s High Court, local outlets reported on Wednesday.
ABC News reported the two teenagers, identified as Noah Jones and Macy Neyland, are named as plaintiffs in the legal challenge, which alleges the upcoming ban is “grossly excessive” and trespasses on the “constitutional right of freedom of political communication.”
Australia left-wing Labor government delivered a law in November 2024 forcing major social media platforms such as X, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others to block anyone under the age of 16 from having a social media account under penalty of steep multi-million dollar fines for the platforms.
Canberra has asserted the ban is needed to protect the nation’s teenagers from the dangers of cyberbullying, harmful content, and online predators in social media. The law will go into effect on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. It is reportedly expected that about 350,000 Australian teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 will be affected by the ban.
“We’re disappointed in a lazy government that bans under-16s rather than investing in programs to help kids be safe on social media,” Jones said.
The teenager asserted that young teens are the “true digital natives” who “want to remain educated, robust, and savvy in our digital world.”
Neyland told local reporters that the ban hampered political discourse among future voters, and said, “Young people like me are the voters of tomorrow,” and asked “Why on earth should we be banned from expressing our views?”
John Ruddick, a member of the Australian Libertarian party serving as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council condemned the ban as “disproportionate” asserting that it outsources parental responsibility to the government and “unelected bureaucrats.”
The Digital Freedom Project, an Australian digital rights advocacy group led by Ruddick, said in a statement that the ban is a “direct assault on young people’s right to freedom of political communication.”
Reuters reported Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells told Parliament after news of the legal challenge broke that the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “would not be intimidated by threats and legal challenges.”
“Despite the fact that we are receiving threats and legal challenges by people with ulterior motives, the Albanese Labor government remains steadfastly on the side of parents, and not of platforms,” Wells said.
Last week, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta notified Australian users within the ages 13-15 that their accounts will soon be shut down once the ban goes into effect on December 10. Meta told Breitbart News that while the company is committed to meet with legal obligations, it has raised concerns about the law.
“There’s a better way: legislation that empowers parents to approve app downloads and verify age allows families—not the government—to decide which apps teens can access,” A Meta spokesperson told Breitbart News.
