New Zealand's (NZ) Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, has announced a proposed law that would ban social media for children under 16 in the country.Revealed Monday, Luxon claimed the law would aid not just the children unable to access the platforms, but the parents who "feel powerless and like they simply cannot compete with an algorithm" designed to keep children scrolling."We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children," Luxon stated, as reported by ABC News.New Zealand would be one of the latest countries in a worldwide trend to ban social media for under-16s, after Australia did so, enacting a similar law back in December 2025..Luxon also claimed, according to 2025 research, a third of New Zealand teenagers spend 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," summarised NZ's prime minister.As for what this means for social media platforms themselves — Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook could be fined up to 10% of their global revenue for failing to take "reasonable steps" to verify whether their users are over 16.Multiple verification options are available, including either "existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services, and formal ID," according to material outlined by Luxon's government..Similar to the law in Australia, the bill would not penalize parents or children.Still, the Australian government has recently increased the maximum fine amounts; platforms can be charged up to $99 million. The proposed NZ ban would exclude messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, online gaming platforms like Roblox and AI apps which have "productivity uses" such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot. Similarly, Canada's proposed bill, which would ban those under 16 under Bill C-34, or the Safe Social Media Act, would fine platforms $10 million or 3% of their global revenue, whichever is greater — when they fail to verify users are over 16..Canada's tabled bill does not clearly state which platforms would be banned — rather, it forces all social media platforms to ban those under 16 until they can prove adequate safeguards for children.Other countries which have also recently enacted social media bans for under-16s include Indonesia and Brazil.Brazil's is the least restrictive, requiring minors under 16 to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian to ensure supervision, as reported by AP News. Public reaction to NZ's ban has been mixed, with some child safety advocates welcoming the age restrictions, while privacy groups are concerned about the exchange of identification all users may have to make, raising these concerns. .One professor, Nicholas Carah, director of the Centre for Digital Cultures and Societies at the University of Queensland, claims there are "two big problems that other countries ought to learn from the Australian experience.""The first is that the ban doesn't actually work in practice. Young people are still easily able to access social media," Carah stated, referencing a report by the Australian eSafety Commissioner which found more than eight in 10 Australian teenagers are still using social media three months into the ban."The other problem is that the ban is regressive, it fails to recognise that social media platforms are important places for young people to learn, to socialise and to express themselves."Moreover, Hannah Storey, Head of Children and Young People's Digital Rights at Amnesty International, adds the legislation creates privacy concerns for users.."Bans rely on age verification measures, which raise significant privacy concerns, while doing nothing to address the underlying design choices that make many platforms addictive and amplify harmful content," Storey stated."We should use the momentum behind this issue to focus on making platforms safe by design for all users, rather than restricting who can access them."The law will probably not have enough time to be led through NZ's parliamentary process of legislation approval before parliament dissolves in October, according to Luxon.
