Australia adds Twitch to teen social media ban, Pinterest exempted

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

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

Twitch volition nary longer let Australians nether 16 to make accounts starting December 10, a Twitch spokesperson told TechCrunch. Existing accounts for users nether 16 volition beryllium deactivated connected January 9. Globally, Twitch is unfastened to users 13 and older, and anyone nether the ineligible property of adulthood successful their portion indispensable person a genitor oregon guardian involved, the 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” due to the fact that the work is built astir online societal enactment and engagement features similar live-streaming. Pinterest, connected the different hand, is chiefly utilized for collecting images and ideas, truthful it isn’t included successful the age-restricted rules.

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

About a twelvemonth ago, Australia passed a instrumentality banning societal media use for children nether 16. At the time, large tech companies similar Google and Meta called connected the authorities to hold enforcement until the state finished its age-verification trial.

The regulator provides a self-assessment instrumentality to assistance platforms find if they indispensable travel the SMMA rules. 

Other countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., are taking akin steps to power who sees what contented connected the Internet, though their approaches differ. Twenty-four U.S. states person truthful acold enacted age-verification laws arsenic of August 2025. Utah became the first to necessitate 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 oregon look immense fines. The U.K. requires beardown property checks for high-risk content, similar self-harm and eating upset content, to support users nether 18.