Amazon-owned Twitch has been added to Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, forcing the platform to block teenage user accounts from December 10 or face fines up to $49.5 million.
The eSafety Commissioner has ruled Twitch’s primary purpose is online social interaction through livestreaming, bringing it into line with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Snapchat, Kick and Threads.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Following Twitch’s own self-assessment, eSafety assessed Twitch as meeting the criteria for ‘age-restricted social media platform’ because it has the sole or significant purpose of online social interaction with features designed to encourage user interaction, including through livestreaming content,” Inman Grant said in a statement this morning.
The decision reverses earlier assessments that left Twitch exempt while banning its smaller Australian rival Kick. Pinterest, meanwhile, escaped the ban after eSafety found its focus on curating images outweighed social features.
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Twitch was contacted for comment. The ruling follows weeks of confusion over which platforms would be captured under laws that assess services by their purpose rather than the harms they pose to children. Discord and Roblox remain exempt, for example, despite documented safety concerns.
Twitch hosts millions of viewers watching gaming, music and entertainment streams, with extensive chat and community features. The platform has faced persistent issues with child exploitation and grooming. eSafety said it would not release further platform assessments before December 10, when the world-first social media ban comes into effect.
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