00:02In the years since Australia's landmark social media ban came into effect,
00:07around 5 million accounts have gone dark, bringing to light a teenage challenger.
00:13If the children aren't collaborating and sharing their own views,
00:16then they're just spectators in their own world that they should be collaborating in.
00:21The now 16-year-old is a former plaintiff and the public face of the libertarian group
00:26the Digital Freedom Project. Lawyers argue the Commonwealth has gone too far regulating online spaces.
00:33Social media is now literally the public square in which they take in information and they communicate with others.
00:42Joining them in a special High Court constitutional challenge is the online social media giant Reddit.
00:49Together they've argued the ban burdens Australia's implied freedom of political communication
00:54by targeting users rather than harmful content.
00:58Lawyers came armed with a list of seven types of harm that it says the platforms generate.
01:03Addiction, brain development changes, sleep impacts, depression, anxiety and suicide,
01:09attention control, intensified ADHD and disordered eating.
01:14The tech giant says denying children access to one of the most significant forms of communication available
01:21and preventing others from hearing what they have to say is a profound restriction on debate.
01:28But it will have to contend with the Commonwealth's defence that the government is protecting children from harm.
01:35The question of what we accept from tech platforms who offer us an online world
01:39is the most compelling policy question of our time.
01:42One becoming increasingly political with proposed digital duty of care laws around the corner.
01:49The hearings will continue tomorrow.
01:50The hearings will continue tomorrow.
