New Zealand’s government introduced legislation on Monday seeking to prevent children under 16 from using social media, joining a growing number of countries taking measures to restrict young people’s access to platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Australia introduced the world’s first law banning children from social media in December, while countries including Britain and France have also moved towards tighter restrictions.
Under New Zealand’s proposed legislation, social media companies such as Meta could face fines of up to 10 per cent of their global revenue if they fail to prevent under-16s from accessing their platforms.
“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.
“One in three children aged between 13 and 17 is now spending at least five hours on social media a day,” he said. “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.”
Luxon specifically identified Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook, saying the platforms would have to take “reasonable steps to check users are over the age of 16”.
The government argues that the proposed restrictions are necessary to protect children from harmful content, addictive features and online pressures that could negatively affect their wellbeing, education and family lives.
