---
title: "Australia asks GitHub if it's a dangerous social network"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/australia-asks-github-if-it-s-a-dangerous-social-network-pwab7roiy
source_url: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/09/25/australia_social_media_ban_github/
type: article
source: "The Register"
published: 2025-09-25T04:30:17.457Z
updated: 2025-09-25T04:30:37.812Z
tags: ["github", "social-media", "regulation"]
reading_time: 2
upvotes: 105
comments: 45
language: en
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Australia asks GitHub if it's a dangerous social network

**[The Register](https://daily.dev/sources/theregister)** · 2 min read · 105 upvotes · 45 comments

## Summary

Australia's eSafety Commissioner is investigating whether GitHub qualifies as a social network under new legislation that will ban under-16s from certain social media platforms starting December 10th. While GitHub's primary purpose isn't social interaction, it does allow comments, user interactions, and content hosting through features like GitHub Pages, potentially making it subject to the new restrictions. The legislation requires platforms to self-assess against specific criteria including enabling social interaction, allowing user linking, and hosting user-generated content.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/09/25/australia_social_media_ban_github/>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@devmandan** · 87 upvotes

> Any Teenagers smart enough to be using Github don't need a governmental babysitter...

**@akkitto** · 19 upvotes

> Before you get to Github, which is rather mild, start with Facebook and the like. Make Facebook 21+, in fact make all stuff hosted by Facebook 21+....

**@rryyqn** · 12 upvotes

> *At this stage, the internet must entirely be age restricted to strengthen the policy. To backup this policy, cell towers and all electronic devices will be banned, as they can be used to traffic children.*
>
> ~ Australian government two weeks later

**@xidib78169** · 11 upvotes

> Is this government seriously going to block GitHub while pushing STEM education on kids?

**@ezpie** · 8 upvotes

> I swear if I see a verify your age on github, I'm entering 69! And I don't care!

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [Steam, Roblox, and Even GitHub Might Get Age-Restricted in Australia](https://daily.dev/posts/steam-roblox-and-even-github-might-get-age-restricted-in-australia-sc0dfdddb) · 80 LEVEL · 1 upvotes · 0 comments

---

Tags: [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#social-media](https://daily.dev/tags/social-media), [#regulation](https://daily.dev/tags/regulation)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/australia-asks-github-if-it-s-a-dangerous-social-network-pwab7roiy)