Streaming platform Twitch added to Australia's teen social media ban

It joins other platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat in the ban that starts next month.

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It joins other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat that must ensure under-16s cannot open accounts and that existing ones are closed from 10 December.

Australia's internet regulator overseeing the ban said Twitch - owned by Amazon -had been included as its main purpose was "online social interaction" where users were encouraged to chat to each other about posted content.

A Twitch spokesperson said Australians under 16 will not be able to open a Twitch account from 10 December and that from 9 January existing under-16s accounts will be deactivated.

On her reasons why Twitch had been included, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said it was "a platform most commonly used for livestreaming or posting content that enables users, including Australian children, to interact with others in relation to the content posted".