The idea of banning young people from social media is to be formally investigated, the government has announced.
Watch the prime minister speak about the plan here:
The possibility of restricting under 16-year-olds' access to social media would be looked into as part of the government's work programme, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.
The focus would be on reducing social media harm.
"I am concerned by the harm social media can cause young New Zealanders and I believe restricting access for under-16s would help protect our kids from bullying, harmful content and social media addiction," Luxon said.
The announcement was made on Sunday, following a burst of interest and debate about whether tighter rules are needed here, following a clamp down announced for children and teenagers in Australia.
Learn more:
- Mediawatch: sudden surge of political concern about social media
- Australia passes world-first laws to ban under 16s from social media
Last year, Australia's Senate passed laws to ban young people under 16 years old from social media sites from the end of 2025, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, but excluding YouTube.
The government says it will start investigating how to reduce harm to young people with potential new rules about social media access. Photo: 123rf
Recently, National MP Catherine Wedd created a members' bill that closely mirrors the Australian law, and if passed into law would require social media platforms to verify users are aged 16 or over.
Wedd's bill does not currently have the formal backing of the coalition government - meaning that if it is randomly drawn from the current crop of members' bills, it would then be debated in Parliament, before all MPs would vote on its future. However, the members' bill does have the backing of the prime minister - who has earlier said he wanted the government to explore possibly backing it into law quicker.
Luxon said on Sunday that Minister of Education Erica Stanford is to lead the new work considering the wider issue, which would be put before Cabinet. The education portfolio would be broadened, so Stanford can "commission advice and direct officials from a range of departments", for the work.
"The overwhelmingly positive response from mums and dads makes it clear we need to progress options to restrict social media for under-16s..." he said.
"Australia is currently testing a range of options for restricting social media for under-16s, and the United Kingdom, the EU, Canada and states in the US are also exploring the issue. As part of her work, Erica will consider how these other jurisdictions are implementing restrictions and what could work in New Zealand, subject to Cabinet approval."
Wedd's members' bill would remain in the ballot for now, Luxon said: "I would like to thank Catherine Wedd for her advocacy so far and look forward to seeing how her members' bill can feed into this process."
In response to the announcement, Labour Party children and education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said they supported considering a ban to reduce social media harm, but it was concerned the issue was being used as a smokescreen to distract from larger issues affecting the country.
"Labour is open to a conversation about banning social media for under-16s and is pleased the government listened when we said this should be a government Bill. But right now mums want to hear from the government about how they're going to help them pay the bills," she said.
"National is using this as a distraction from their appalling decision to cut women's pay," she said, referring to the government's sudden changes to pay equity legislation, that were made under urgency last week.
New pressure group demands urgent action
The announcement comes the same day a new activist group has launched its own campaign, with a petition to Parliament calling for urgent introduction of "online safety legislation" banning social media for people aged under 16.
The group, B416, said it was made up of parents, public health experts, tech experts and community leaders, and aims to back parents to protect childhood.
The age young people could access social media should be raised to be in line with age limits already in place for other harmful products, B416 said. It wanted stronger "age assurance" verification systems to be used, and a dedicated online safety regulator tasked with protecting young people from online harm and with powers to enforce this.
"Delaying access for children doesn't mean denying technology. It just means we're giving Kiwi kids time to build resilience, critical thinking, and emotional maturity before we open the gates to an environment that is built for adult engagement," B416 co-chairperson Cecilia Robinson said.
They B416 campaign had been launched Auckland to strong public support, the group said in a statement, and they were expecting school leaders, as well as MPs from across the political spectrum to attend the launch event.
What the other parties say
ACT Party leader David Seymour earlier said that while he was concerned about social media harm to young people, Wedd's members' bill was a hastily drafted ban that would not adequately address the problem. His party had blocked the coalition government from formally supporting her bill.
Seymour said instead there was the opportunity to learn from Australia's mistakes, and that a "quality public inquiry" before a select committee was needed, with parents, educational psychologists and social media companies part of the process.
NZ First leader Winston Peters wanted more investigation done to work towards a government bill, as "it's got all the hallmarks of being very necessary".
Among opposition parties, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said he wanted to see more debate on the topic and how restrictions might work, but was supportive of exploring a ban, while the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick said evidence-based knowledge and consulting a broad spectrum would be vital to avoid any overly simplistic knee-jerk reaction to moral panic.
Wider reactions to the idea have been mixed, with many young people against losing some of their freedom online, instead favouring more education and guidance around safer social media use, or lower age limits.
Some coaches and teachers have told RNZ that social media exposure was now a necessary part of teenagers' development for modern life. And viewing motivational and inspiring stories and ideas on social media was beneficial to young people, while social media was also now a key method for communication and organising with teenagers - as well as with parents via their children.
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