Steam, Roblox & Even GitHub Might Get Age-Restricted in Australia

Worldwide restrictions and censorship that have been affecting the video game industry harder than ever before in recent months continue to tighten, with the latest wave coming from the land down under, where the gaming community could get torn asunder by the end of the year.

To add a bit of context, in late 2024, the Australian government passed a new law dubbed the Online Safety Amendment Bill 2024, which introduced a mandatory minimum age of 16 for accounts on certain social media platforms. Set to take effect this December, the law effectively bans anyone under 16 from using sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, even if their parents are A-OK with their children browsing whatever they want.

While some of the platforms were already known to be on the "no-youth-allowed list," such as those listed above, it was recently revealed that the Australian eSafety Commissioner has also contacted several video game-related platforms – including Steam, Roblox, Lego Play, and even the code-hosting platform GitHub for some reason – about the impending ban, potentially impacting underage Aussie gamers and game developers both.

As stated by eSafety, the companies contacted have all been asked to conduct a "self-assessment" in order to determine whether their service falls under the new law. If a company believes its platform should be exempt from the ban, it must submit a written case with supporting evidence. As such, it's important to note that just because the aforementioned gaming platforms were contacted doesn't mean they will be banned for under-16s – only that they might be, depending on the outcome of the self-assessment and the assessment made by the commissioner.

While not every company listed above will fall under the law and become inaccessible to younger teens, the list may still grow – potentially substantially – given that eSafety has already conducted background research on "about 100 different platforms."