Government wants to ban under-16s from social media — here's what's happening
The government will introduce a new law on Monday to ban social media for under-16s. Education Minister Erica Stanford is leading the work.
The law would create a new watchdog inside an existing government department. That watchdog would check whether social media companies are following the rules and could take action against them if they don't. The penalties in the bill are aimed at the companies, not at children or their families. Stanford said the bill places legal obligations on platforms and proposes no penalties for children, their parents or caregivers RNZ.
The platforms named in the bill include Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X and Facebook. They would need to check that users are over 16, using methods like existing account details, facial age estimation, digital ID services or formal identification. Platforms would also need to regularly assess the risks they pose and report on how they are reducing them.
Some apps are not included in the ban. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Discord, and online games like Roblox, are excluded. AI tools mainly used for productivity, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, are also out of scope. But social AI companions — apps designed to act like a friend — are covered by the ban.
A government factsheet lists what the bill is trying to tackle: illegal content, harmful content including grooming, cyberbullying, harassment and AI deepfakes, advertising and behavioural profiling, and service design and function.
Whether the bill gets through Parliament is not clear. ACT and New Zealand First will not support it. They used an arrangement in the coalition agreement called an agree-to-disagree clause, which lets coalition partners oppose a bill without leaving the government. That means National needs Labour's support to get the bill past its first vote, the stage where MPs decide whether a bill should go forward for closer examination.
ACT leader David Seymour said the proposed ban won't work and will have side effects. Labour has also indicated it may not support the bill. Science and technology spokesperson Reuben Davidson wrote to Stanford with a list of things the party wants addressed before it will consider backing the legislation.
Davidson's letter asked about consultation with children and young people, how companies could show they were following the rules, whether a full privacy impact assessment would be published, and how penalties would be enforced.
The bill follows the government's May 2025 announcement that social media restrictions for under-16s would become part of its work programme, with Stanford tasked to lead the work Beehive. National MP Catherine Wedd's members' bill relates to that work programme.
The broader context here is international. Australia became the first country to pass a ban on social media use by children under 16, with its law requiring major platforms to block minors from 10 December 2025 Reuters. Australia's eSafety regulator describes its age restrictions as "a delay to having accounts" rather than a ban, and notes there are no penalties for under-16s who access an age-restricted platform eSafety.
New Zealand's approach mirrors Australia's in putting the responsibility on platforms rather than individuals. But the numbers in Parliament are the immediate challenge. With both coalition partners refusing to support the bill, its survival at the first vote depends on whether Labour's concerns are addressed. Davidson's letter signals Labour is looking at the detail rather than dismissing the idea, but the party has not committed to supporting it.
The key question is whether Stanford can answer Labour's questions quickly enough to get its support for that first vote, or whether the bill stalls right at the start. The agree-to-disagree clause means ACT and NZ First face no consequences for opposing the bill, leaving National to negotiate with Labour — a situation that will test whether the government can pass a major social policy without its own coalition partners.
