Wellington, 24 August (H.S.):

The New Zealand government has announced plans to introduce a bill in Parliament seeking to restrict children under the age of 16 from using social media. Under the proposed legislation, social media platforms that fail to comply with the regulations could face fines of up to 10 per cent of their global revenue.

According to French television network France 24 and Zee TV News, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was taking the step to protect children from the potential harms associated with social media. Young users are increasingly being exposed to harmful content, addictive technologies and online pressures, which can adversely affect their mental health, sleep, education and family life.

Under the proposed legislation, platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat would be required to take reasonable measures to ensure that their users are aged 16 or above. Possible methods could include using information from existing accounts, facial age-estimation technology, digital identification and official identity documents.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the bill would impose legal responsibilities on social media platforms. She clarified that there was no proposal to impose fines on children or their parents. However, questions remain over whether the legislation will secure sufficient parliamentary support. Luxon’s coalition partner, New Zealand First, has indicated that it may oppose the measure, saying that the experience of a similar law in Australia makes it difficult to support the proposed restriction.

The libertarian ACT Party has also questioned the effectiveness of the legislation. The party believes teenagers could find ways to circumvent age-verification requirements.

The main opposition Labour Party has also sought answers from the government before deciding whether to support the proposal. Among its concerns are the process for verifying users’ ages and which social media platforms would fall within the scope of the proposed restrictions.

New Zealand’s proposed legislation follows Australia’s introduction of a law restricting social media access for children under 16. Australia became the first country to implement such a nationwide restriction. However, debate continues over the effectiveness of the measure. In a peer-reviewed study published in June, researchers said there was limited evidence that the restriction had significantly reduced teenagers’ use of social media.

Prime Minister Luxon has acknowledged that enforcing the proposed restrictions would not be easy. While some children may find ways to circumvent the rules, he said failing to make an effort to protect children from online risks would be a far greater mistake.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar