Reddit is arguing it's a 'collection of public fora' and not a social media company. Here's why.

A new Australian law prohibits people under 16 from opening or maintaining social media accounts and requires platforms to deactivate those accounts. Reddit filed a lawsuit seeking revocation or exemption of the law. Reddit argues the law infringes the implied freedom of political communication. Reddit contends it is not a social media platform but a collection of public fora arranged by subject. Reddit asserts its purpose is not to enable online social interaction between end-users, that users often do not know each other's real identities, and that it does not import contact lists. Reddit highlights the upvote/downvote feature as an indicator of content usefulness rather than social connection.

"As part of the legal filing, Reddit also pushed back at being labeled an "age-restricted social media platform" within the meaning of Australia's law. Instead, Reddit said it "operates as a collection of public fora arranged by subject." "That is because it is not the case that the sole purpose, or a significant purpose, of Reddit is to enable 'online social interaction' between two or more end-users," the company said in its 12-page legal filing."

"The company added that, in most cases, users don't know each other's real identities. "Reddit does not import contact lists or address books. The 'upvote/downvote' functionality enables users to indicate how helpful they found the information that was posted by an end-user," the company said in the lawsuit. "It is not intended to be used as a way for users to express any view about the poster themselves. In this way, Reddit is significantly different from other sites that allow for users to become 'friends"

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