New Zealand Introduces Legislation to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

New Zealand's government introduced legislation on Monday to ban under-16s from using social media. The proposed law would fine firms like Meta up to 10% of their global revenue if they fail to comply.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated, "We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children." Luxon cited that one in three children aged between 13 and 17 spend at least five hours on social media daily. He said social media exposes children to harmful content, addictive technology, and pressures they are not equipped to deal with, affecting family life, mental health, sleep, and education.

Luxon specifically named Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook, stating they would be required to take reasonable steps to check users are over the age of 16. Verification methods would include existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal ID. Platforms would also need to assess risks and report on danger reduction efforts.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the bill places legal obligations on platforms and proposes no penalties for children, their parents or caregivers. The bill's passage faces uncertainty as National Party's coalition partners, the libertarian ACT party and populist NZ First, oppose it. NZ First stated they could not support the law due to the colossal failure of similar legislation in Australia.

ACT believes the law won't work and teenagers would easily circumvent the ban. The main opposition party, Labour, submitted dozens of questions before deciding on support, including how age verification will work and which platforms will be affected. Australia implemented world-first legislation banning children from social media in December, with the UK and France following suit.

A June peer-reviewed study by Australian researchers found little evidence that Australia's ban reduced teen social media use. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said keeping children off social media should be the responsibility of parents.