New Zealand Proposes Ban on Social Media for Under-16s

On August 24 2026, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the Online Safety Bill, which would prohibit children younger than 16 from accessing major social-media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook. The legislation requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to verify users’ ages using existing account data, facial-age estimation, digital-ID services or formal identification. Companies that fail to comply could be fined up to 10 % of their global revenue. The bill also mandates regular risk-assessment reporting and the creation of an online-safety regulator within the Department of Internal Affairs.

New Zealand bans social media access for under-16s China DailyNew Zealand joins global push to restrict children's social media use New Zealand introduces bill to ban social media for children under 16 The SpinoffNew Zealand's ruling party plans to set a minimum age for social media use DW NewsAustralian Associated Press (AAP)

New Zealand’s proposal follows similar measures worldwide. Australia enacted a blanket ban on under-16 social-media use in December 2025, and more than two dozen countries—including Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and several European states—have introduced or are considering comparable restrictions. The government frames the bill as part of a “global network of countries” seeking to curb online harm to children.

Bloomberg

• Government-commissioned research for 2025 indicates that one-third of New Zealand teenagers aged 13-17 spend at least five hours per day on social media.

New Zealand Proposes Law to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

• The bill excludes messaging services (e.g., WhatsApp), multiplayer games such as Roblox, and productivity-oriented AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot).

New Zealand joins global push to restrict children's social media use

• Education Minister Erica Stanford emphasized that the legal burden rests on platforms, not on children, parents or caregivers, and highlighted the regulator’s role in monitoring compliance.

China Daily

• Law lecturer Rachel Tan (University of Waikato) cautioned that the effectiveness of age-verification methods will depend on implementation, noting concerns about accuracy, privacy and practical operation.

Bloomberg

• Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First and foreign minister, warned that enforcement could infringe on parental rights, individual freedoms and privacy, and that the bill would require measures such as VPN bans and digital-ID mandates to work.

The Spinoff

• David Seymour, leader of the ACT Party, called the proposal “unworkable” and said it could push teenagers toward less visible corners of the internet, reducing open dialogue with parents and teachers.

The Spinoff

• Privacy advocates have raised concerns that mandatory identification could create significant data-privacy risks without clear safeguards.

China Daily

Evidence from Australia’s December 2025 ban is mixed. A peer-reviewed study published in June reported little evidence that teenage social-media use declined after the ban. Some officials cite “early evidence” suggesting that minimum-age requirements are already influencing user behaviour. The disparity highlights a gap in robust, longitudinal data on the ban’s impact and underscores uncertainty about how New Zealand’s approach will perform.

DW News

The Online Safety Bill will be presented to Parliament on the same day as the announcement. Because junior coalition partners—ACT and New Zealand First—have signaled they will vote against the measure, the government will need support from opposition parties, notably Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori, to achieve passage. The bill must clear three parliamentary readings, a process unlikely to be completed before the November election, meaning its ultimate fate will be decided by the post-election composition of Parliament.

Bloomberg