New Zealand to Ban Under-16s From Social Media Platforms

New Zealand plans to ban under-16s from social media, joining a throng of countries worldwide seeking to limit online harm to children.

The government will introduce the Online Safety Bill on Monday that will require high-risk social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to take reasonable steps to check users are over the age of 16, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a press conference.

“We can no longer sit back and just wait for the big tech companies to fix this on their own. They’ve had years to act and they haven’t,” said Luxon.

One in three children between the ages of 13 and 17 spends at least five hours on social media a day, Luxon said in an accompanying statement.

“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 said.

New Zealand has become the latest country to emulate Australia, which barred under-16s from using social media in late 2025. Since then more than two dozen countries have either enacted their own bans or are weighing similar restrictions. They include a number of European states as well as developing nations such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil.

Read more: How the Push to Get Kids Off Social Media Went Global: Explainer

Still, Australia’s world-first legislation has its limits — it led to only a marginal reduction in underage users in its first three months, underscoring the lack of enforcement by major platforms operated by companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc. And many teenagers appear to be finding ways around it.

The government, which is a coalition made up of three parties — Luxon’s National, New Zealand First and the ACT Party — may also face difficulty getting the bill passed into law.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said in a statement that while his party agreed with the intent of the bill, it won’t be supporting the progression of legislation.

“The fact is, no matter how laudable the intent is of introducing laws to address this serious issue, there is no method that would fulfil that intent without banning VPNs or the use of digital ID to enforce the law,” he said. “This has been proven with the colossal failure of Australia bringing in similar measures that National want to bring in now.”

The libertarian ACT Party will also not support the legislation, meaning National will have to rely on the support of opposition parties Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.

“ACT won’t support a policy just because it sounds tough or polls well,” leader David Seymour said. “The test should be whether it works, and whether the cure is worse than the disease.”

Luxon said the bill won’t progress through parliament prior to the Nov. 7 election so it will be up to all parties in parliament after the vote to decide whether they will back it.

‘Significant Penalties’

Luxon said media platform operators will need to use methods including existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and formal ID to identify their users. They will also need to regularly assess the risks their platforms pose and report on how those risks are being identified and reduced.

Penalties for companies that fail to meet their obligations will be significant — potentially as much as 10% of a platform’s global revenue, he said.

Messaging services such as WhatsApp will not be included in the ban, nor will multiplayer games such as Roblox Corp.

The bill will also bring emerging technologies, including AI companion platforms, within the regulatory framework, and establish an online safety regulator within the Department of Internal Affairs to independently monitor compliance, investigate platforms and enforce the law, according to the statement.

Last year, the center-right coalition government was unable to agree on moving ahead with a ban after junior partner ACT said an initial proposal would prove unworkable. A parliamentary select committee subsequently held an inquiry into the harms of social media on young people.

Rachel Tan, a law lecturer at the University of Waikato, said the effectiveness of the regime will depend heavily on its implementation.

“Methods such as facial age estimation, digital ID and analysis of existing account information still raise important questions about accuracy, privacy and how these systems will operate in practice,” Tan said in a statement.