Twitch, the live-streaming platform owned by Amazon, has been added to Australia’s world-first social media age ban, the eSafety Commission has announced, leaving the tech company just 19 days to prepare.
eSafety on Friday said it had designated Twitch an “age-restricted social media platform”, requiring it “to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from having accounts” before the ban begin on December 10.
The social media ban currently includes Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube, with Twitch the latest platform to be added after months of speculation.
Twitch is a platform popular amongst gamers, founded in 2007 and acquired by Amazon in 2014 for US$970 million. It currently boasts more than 105 million average monthly users, including an estimated 4.1 million Australians.
In a statement, Twitch said that under-16s would be unable to create new accounts from the ban’s outset in 19 days and that existing accounts would be deactivated from January 9.
The streamer said it required all users globally to be at least 13 years old, while minors in all jurisdictions were required to be under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
eSafety said Twitch’s own self-assessment using the Commission’s standards for age restrictions had led to the decision to add it to the social media ban.
“Twitch … enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted,” the Commission’s statement said.
eSafety also said it had told online platform Pinterest it will not be captured by the laws laws, as it is “more commonly used by individuals collating images for inspiration and idea curation”.
The Commission confirmed it would not be adding other platforms to the social media ban ahead of December 10 but that it had been assessing various entities “in stages”.
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