Key Points
- New Zealand’s government has introduced legislation seeking to ban under-16s from using social media.
- Platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue for failing to comply.
- The proposal faces opposition from two of the government’s coalition partners, ACT and NZ First.
- The legislation comes after Australia introduced a similar ban in December 2025, although researchers have questioned its effectiveness.
Main Story
New Zealand’s government has introduced legislation to ban children under 16 from using social media, joining a growing group of countries seeking to restrict young people’s access to platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Under the proposed law, social media companies could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue if they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from accessing their platforms.
“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
“One in three children aged between 13 and 17 are now spending at least five hours on social media a day.
“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 lamented.
Luxon said platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook would be required to take “reasonable steps to check users are over the age of 16.”
Those measures could include the use of existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal identification.
The proposed legislation would also require platforms to assess the risks they pose to young users and report on measures taken to reduce those risks.
The Issues
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the Bill would “place legal obligations on platforms.”
“No penalties are proposed for children, their parents or caregivers,” Stanford said.
However, the legislation faces a significant political hurdle, with both of the National Party’s coalition partners—libertarian ACT and populist NZ First—opposing the proposal.
NZ First said it could not support the legislation because of what it described as the “colossal failure” of Australia’s equivalent law, while ACT said the proposal “won’t work” and teenagers would easily circumvent the restrictions.
The main opposition Labour Party has also raised questions about how the scheme would operate, including how age verification would be conducted and which platforms would be covered.
What’s Being Said
“We take this legislation very seriously,” said Labour spokesman Reuben Davidson.
“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.
The proposed ban follows Australia’s decision to restrict under-16s from platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in December 2025, in a move aimed at protecting children from online bullying and “predatory algorithms.”
However, a peer-reviewed study by Australia-based researchers published in June found little evidence that teenagers had turned away from social media as a result of the restrictions.
What’s Next
The New Zealand legislation must still pass through the country’s parliamentary process, with its prospects uncertain given opposition from ACT and NZ First.
If enacted, social media platforms would be required to introduce age-verification measures and assess and report on risks to younger users.
The proposal will therefore face two major tests: whether the government can secure enough political support to pass it, and whether the resulting restrictions can effectively prevent under-16s from accessing social media.
Bottom Line
New Zealand is seeking to follow Australia’s lead in restricting children’s access to social media, but the proposal faces political opposition and questions over whether such bans can achieve their intended effect.
The debate is likely to centre not only on protecting young people online, but also on whether age-verification systems can be enforced effectively and whether teenagers will ultimately find ways around the restrictions.
