New Zealand Moves To Ban Social Media For Under-16s, But Luxon Faces Coalition Revolt

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled legislation seeking to ban children under 16 from using social media, arguing that the country cannot ignore the growing harm caused by online platforms to young people. The Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill is being introduced in Parliament on Monday.

Luxon said one in three New Zealand teenagers aged 13 to 17 spends at least five hours a day on social media, exposing young people to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they may not be equipped to handle. He said excessive social media use is affecting children's mental health, sleep, education and family life.

Under the proposed legislation, high risk platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook would have to take “reasonable steps” to establish that users are at least 16. Possible methods include checking existing account information, facial age estimation, digital identity services and formal identification. Platforms regularly used by children would also have to assess the risks posed by their services and report on measures taken to reduce those risks.

The proposal would not punish children or their parents. Instead, technology companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 10 per cent of their global revenue, potentially making the penalties substantially larger than those imposed under Australia's system. Messaging services such as WhatsApp, gaming platforms including Roblox and productivity focused AI applications such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot would be excluded under the current proposal.

However, Luxon's proposal faces a major political hurdle. His coalition government consists of the centre right National Party, libertarian ACT and populist NZ First, but ACT and NZ First have said they will vote against the legislation. NZ First leader Winston Peters has described Australia's experience as a failure and argued that responsibility for children's social media use should primarily rest with parents.

The main opposition Labour Party has not yet decided whether to support the bill. That means Luxon's National Party would need opposition backing to get the legislation through Parliament. With Parliament due to dissolve on October 1 ahead of New Zealand's November 7 general election, Luxon has acknowledged there is not enough time for the bill to complete the usual three stages of parliamentary voting before the election.

The proposal follows Australia's world first under-16 social media restrictions, which came into force in December 2025. Australian officials said in January that platforms had restricted access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to under-16s. The experience has nevertheless fuelled debate over enforcement, privacy and whether teenagers can circumvent age checks by using false information or accounts belonging to older people.

New Zealand is now part of a wider international push to regulate children's access to social media. Australia has been followed by measures or legislative efforts in countries including Brazil, Indonesia and Canada, while governments in several other countries are studying age restrictions.