New Zealand is moving to draw a hard line on youth social media use, unveiling legislation that would bar children under 16 from platforms such as Instagram and TikTok as governments worldwide step up efforts to limit the online risks facing young people.
The proposal places New Zealand alongside a growing list of countries taking similar action. Australia passed world-first laws in December banning children from social media, and the UK, France and others have also signalled tougher approaches.
Under the New Zealand bill, companies such as Meta could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue if they do not comply.
“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.
He pointed to the scale of the problem, saying: “One in three children aged between 13 and 17 are now spending at least five hours on social media a day,” he said.
Mr Luxon argued that heavy use comes with real-world consequences, saying social media is exposing young users to “harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are not equipped to deal with”, and that it is affecting family life, mental health, sleep and education.
He singled out Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook, saying the services would be required to take “reasonable steps to check users are over the age of 16”.
The proposed framework sets out a range of tools for confirming age, including “existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal ID”.
Platforms would also have to evaluate the risks they create and report on the measures they are taking to reduce those dangers, with penalties for companies that fall short.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the bill “places legal obligations on platforms”.
“No penalties are proposed for children, their parents or caregivers,” Ms Stanford said.
Watch: New Zealand PM says social media not always safe for young people
For now, the bill’s prospects remain uncertain. National’s coalition partners — the libertarian ACT party and the populist NZ First — have both said they oppose it, raising questions over whether the legislation can clear Parliament.
In a statement, NZ First said it could not back the proposal, citing what it called the “colossal failure” of Australia’s approach. ACT, meanwhile, said it believes the law “won’t work” and argued teenagers would be able to circumvent a ban.
Labour, the main opposition party, has not committed its support and has submitted dozens of questions it wants addressed first, including how age verification would operate in practice and which platforms would fall under the rules.
“We take this legislation very seriously,” spokesman Reuben Davidson said.
“The safety of young people in Aotearoa New Zealand is at stake and the risks they face in increasingly complex online environments are significant,” he added, using the Maori-language name for the country.
Australia’s laws last year targeted under-16 access to services including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, part of a crackdown aimed at shielding children from online bullying and what officials described as “predatory algorithms”.
But a peer-reviewed study published in June by a team of Australia-based researchers found little evidence that teenagers have turned away from social media as a result.
