SYDNEY, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A constitutional challenge

against Australia's social media ban on children younger than

16 has been filed in the nation's highest court, two weeks

before the world-first law is set to take effect.

A campaign group called the Digital Freedom Project said on

Wednesday it launched proceedings in the High Court of Australia

in a bid to block the law, with two 15-year-olds, Noah Jones and

Macy Neyland, as plaintiffs in the case.

More than one million accounts held by teenagers under 16

are set to be deactivated in Australia when the ban on platforms

including YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta's

Facebook and Instagram starts on December 10.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Digital Freedom Project

said the ban "robs" young Australians of their freedom of

political communication, an implied right in the constitution.

Australia does not have an express right to free speech.

"The legislation is grossly excessive," the statement said.

Neyland said the law would ban young people from expressing

their views online.

"Young people like me are the voters of tomorrow ... we

shouldn't be silenced. It's like Orwell's book 1984, and that

scares me," she said.

The Digital Freedom Project's president is John Ruddick, a

member of the Libertarian Party in the New South Wales state

Parliament.

After news of the legal challenge broke, Communications

Minister Anika Wells told Parliament the centre-left government,

led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, would not be intimidated

by threats and legal challenges.

"Despite the fact that we are receiving threats and

legal challenges by people with ulterior motives, the Albanese

Labor government remains steadfastly on the side of parents, and

not of platforms," Wells said.

Australian media has reported that YouTube also threatened

to launch a High Court challenge on the grounds the ban burdened

political communication.

Governments and tech firms around the world are closely

watching Australia's effort to implement the ban, one of the

most comprehensive efforts to police minors' social media

access.

The ban was

passed into law

in November 2024 and is supported by the majority of

Australians, according to opinion polling.

The government said research showed the over-use of

social media was harming young teens, including causing

misinformation, enabling bullying and harmful depictions of body

image.

Companies that fail to comply with the ban could face

penalties of up to A$49.5 million ($32.22 million).

($1 = 1.5361 Australian dollars)