New Zealand proposes under-16 social media ban ahead of election

Wellington,UPDATED: Aug 24, 2026 12:10 IST

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law to ban children under 16 from using social media platforms, saying on Monday that there was "harm being done to a generation" of young people. If re-elected, Luxon wants his government to join a growing number of countries that have moved to restrict young users' access to social media.

The proposal does not yet have enough support to become law. Two of the three parties in Luxon's coalition government have said they will vote against it, which means the bill would need backing from opposition lawmakers, who have not yet decided their position. Luxon also said there was not enough time for a vote before Parliament dissolved on October 1 ahead of November's election.

Under the proposal, social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook would have to "take reasonable steps" to check that users are older than 16, according to material released by Luxon's party. The measures could include using existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal identification.

Messaging services such as WhatsApp, online gaming platforms such as Roblox, and AI apps with productivity uses, including ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot, would be excluded from the proposed law. There would be no penalties for parents or children, but technology firms could be fined up to 10 per cent of their global revenue if they failed to meet their obligations. Platforms regularly used by children would also have to assess and report the risks their networks posed, Luxon said.

Luxon said research in 2025 showed that a third of New Zealand teenagers spent at least five hours a day on social media. "Social media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are not equipped to deal with and it's affecting their family life, mental health, sleep, and education," he said.

The proposal has sharply divided the New Zealand government. Luxon's administration has considered such a law since Australia's under-16 social media ban took effect in December 2025, but the other two coalition parties, the libertarian ACT and the populist NZ First, have strongly opposed it and on Monday repeated that they would vote against it. Chris Hipkins, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said his lawmakers had not yet decided whether they would support the bill.

Australia's move has been followed by countries including Canada, Brazil and Indonesia, while several others are studying or developing similar laws. Supporters, including child safety advocates and some parents, have welcomed age restrictions. Privacy groups, however, say such rules can be bypassed and that requiring users to provide identification raises privacy concerns. In January, a month after Australia's ban came into force, social media companies told an Australian regulator they had removed access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Luxon's government had already brought in a ban in 2024 on the use of mobile phones during the school day for students of all ages. His latest proposal would push that wider effort further, but for now its future remains uncertain because of political opposition and the timing of the election.

With PTI Inputs

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