Australia Adds Twitch To Teen Social Media Ban, Pinterest Exempted

Just weeks earlier Australia’s societal media prohibition for users nether 16 takes effect, nan country’s watchdog, eSafety, has added Twitch to nan database of banned platforms.

Pinterest, however, was excluded, successful statement pinch Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) rules.

Twitch will nary longer let Australians nether 16 to create accounts starting December 10, a Twitch spokesperson told TechCrunch. Existing accounts for users nether 16 will beryllium deactivated connected January 9. Globally, Twitch is unfastened to users 13 and older, and anyone nether nan ineligible property of adulthood successful their region must person a genitor aliases guardian involved, nan spokesperson said.

Pinterest did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Australia’s eSafety stated that Twitch is categorized arsenic an “age-restricted societal media platform” because nan work is built astir online societal relationship and engagement features for illustration live-streaming. Pinterest, connected nan different hand, is chiefly utilized for collecting images and ideas, truthful it isn’t included successful nan age-restricted rules.

Australia has said its underage societal media ban, which will spell into effect connected December 10, will use to Meta‘s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, YouTube (except YouTube Kids and Google Classroom), Reddit, and nan section streaming service, Kick. These platforms will beryllium required to artifact relationship entree for users nether 16, according to a connection by nan net regulator. 

About a twelvemonth ago, Australia passed a rule banning societal media use for children nether 16. At nan time, awesome tech companies for illustration Google and Meta called connected nan authorities to hold enforcement until nan state vanished its age-verification trial.

The regulator provides a self-assessment instrumentality to thief platforms find if they must travel nan SMMA rules. 

Other countries, including nan U.S. and nan U.K., are taking akin steps to power who sees what contented connected nan Internet, though their approaches differ. Twenty-four U.S. states person truthful acold enacted age-verification laws arsenic of August 2025. Utah became nan first to require app stores to verify users’ ages and get parental consent for minors downloading apps.

The U.K.’s Online Safety Act came into effect successful July, mandating societal media and different online platforms to artifact children’s entree to harmful contented aliases look immense fines. The U.K. requires beardown property checks for high-risk content, for illustration self-harm and eating upset content, to protect users nether 18.