GitHub Endangers Children

Is GitHub a social network that endangers children? Australia wants to know As ban on under-16s using some sites looms, cyber-safety regulator sends Microsoft's code locker a letter Simon Sharwood Thu 25 Sep 2025 · 04:23 UTC Australia's eSafety Commissioner has written to GitHub to ask it to consider if it's a social network that endangers children. The reason for the cyber-safety regulator's correspondence is Australia's imminent requirement that some social media platforms restrict access to Australian residents under 16 years of age, on the grounds that such services can be harmful to children. MORE CONTEXT GitHub moves to tighten npm security amid phishing, malware plague The ban on providing service to kids under 16 starts on December 10th, but the eSafety Commission – Australia's cyber-safety regulator – does not decide which platforms have obligations to block children under Australia's Online Safety Act. The Commission has said that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube “meet many of the conditions” in the Act.

A screenshot of a The Register article asks whether GitHub is a social network that endangers children, because Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is considering whether age restrictions should apply to it. The joke is that GitHub is primarily a code-hosting platform, so treating it like a social network for children’s online safety laws feels absurd. It can be sent as a reaction to the uploader’s warning not to let children learn C++, implying that programming communities and code can be dangerously confusing or harmful. EN: A screenshot of a The Register article asks whether GitHub is a social network that endangers children, because Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is considering whether age restrictions should apply to it. The joke is that GitHub is primarily a code-hosting platform, so treating it like a social network for children’s online safety laws feels absurd. It can be sent as a reaction to the uploader’s warning not to let children learn C++, implying that programming communities and code can be dangerously confusing or harmful.

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