New Zealand considers banning children under 16 from social media

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced that his party will bring a bill before parliament aiming to bar children under 16 from using social media. Platforms failing to comply could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.

Under the proposal, social media companies would be required to take reasonable steps to verify users' ages, drawing on methods such as existing account data, facial recognition technology and digital identity documents.

In a statement issued on Monday, Luxon said the country could not accept the harm being inflicted on a generation of New Zealand children, arguing that social media exposes them to harmful content, addictive design and pressures they are not equipped to handle, with consequences for family life, mental health, sleep and education.

Uncertain parliamentary support

It remains unclear whether the bill will secure enough backing to pass. New Zealand First, one of Luxon's coalition partners, has already said it will not support the measure. Party leader and foreign minister Winston Peters said on X that he was concerned about the direction of the legislation, warning it set the country on a dangerous path. He pointed to Australia's similar ban, introduced in December, as a “colossal failure,” arguing that keeping children off social media should be a matter for parents rather than government.

Australia became the first country in the world to bar under-16s from platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Luxon acknowledged his proposed approach would be neither simple nor perfect, and that some children would inevitably find ways around it. Still, he said, the issue was too important not to attempt to address.