Government Exempting Online Games From Social Media Ban Has Obviously Never Played League Of Legends

EFFIE BATEMAN | Lifestyle | Contact

The nation’s gamers have been left silently chuckling this week, as the federal government’s proposed ‘under 16s social media ban’ is set to exclude all forms of online gaming.

This comes as it was recently announced that YouTube would be included in the ban. It was initially exempt, but has since been reversed following a recommendation from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

Governments around the world are coordinating similar bans, with the UK just implementing age verification rules to use Spotify.

This has led to the use of VPNS skyrocketing, which could now also be put on the chopping block.

Strangely, ‘think of the children’ only seems to apply when it comes to putting in age verification rules to use the internet, and not when it comes to banning gambling ads, funding public schools or implementing rules to stop people from hoarding housing.

Australia’s social media rules, which will come into effect in December, will require users to provide proof of age to use Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit and YouTube.

However, the government has allowed some exemptions to these new rules, including allowing kids to continue playing online games – leading many to ponder that none of these politicians have ever been in a League of Legends chat room.

The popular game, which has over 117 million monthly players, has a longstanding reputation for negative and abusive in game behaviour.

Users report there’s a 90% chance you’ll be called a slur, told to suck a dick or urged to ‘go kill yourself’, likely within the first ten minutes of starting up the game.

More to come.