New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday that his party would introduce legislation seeking to ban children under 16 from using social media, with platforms facing substantial fines if they fail to comply.
Under the proposed law, social media companies would be required to take reasonable steps to verify the age of users, potentially using existing account information, facial-age technology and digital identity documents.
Platforms that fail to meet the requirements could face penalties of up to 10% of their global revenue.
“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” Luxon said.
“Social media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are not equipped to deal with,” he added, pointing to its impact on mental health, sleep, education and family life.
However, the proposal faces political opposition and it remains uncertain whether it can secure enough parliamentary support to become law.
New Zealand First, one of Luxon’s coalition partners, has said it will oppose the legislation. Party leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters warned that such restrictions could put the country on a “slippery slope”.
Peters argued that parents should be responsible for regulating their children’s social media use and described Australia’s under-16 social media ban as a “colossal failure”.
Australia became the first country to introduce such a nationwide restriction in December, covering major platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
Luxon acknowledged that enforcing the proposed ban would be challenging.
“We won’t get every single child off social media. Some will always find ways around it,” he said. “But frankly, it’s just way too important not to at least try.”