Reddit has filed the first legal challenge against Australia's ban on under-16s holding social media accounts, asking the country's High Court to strike the law down. The company argues the world-first measure is unconstitutional, and in court branded the legislation 'inept', according to reporting from TechRadar and The Next Web.

The ban, which prohibits anyone under 16 from maintaining an account on covered platforms, has drawn international attention as the most aggressive attempt yet by a national government to wall off social media from minors. Reddit's filing turns that policy experiment into a constitutional test case.

The Australian government is not backing down. Officials characterized the challenge as part of a 'sustained ideological attack' on the law, per TechRadar, signaling Canberra intends to defend the ban in full. The High Court's answer will determine whether the under-16 regime survives — and will be watched closely by regulators in other countries weighing similar restrictions.