New Zealand is taking a swing at Big Tech, proposing a ban that would keep children under 16 off major social media platforms.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s government introduced the Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill on Monday, seeking to make social media companies responsible for keeping under-16s off their services.
Social media services designated as high risk would have to take “reasonable steps” to verify that users are at least 16. The government identified Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook as examples of platforms likely to fall within that category. Possible methods include checking existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services and government-issued identification.
Companies that fail to meet their obligations could face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue. The bill would also require platforms used by children to assess online risks regularly and report on how they are reducing them.
For technology companies, the proposal could create substantial compliance obligations while forcing them to balance reliable age assurance against the privacy risks of collecting identity or biometric information.
The proposal goes beyond traditional social networks, bringing emerging technologies such as AI companion platforms under the planned regulatory framework. An online safety regulator within New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs would monitor compliance, investigate platforms and enforce the rules.
“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” Luxon said in the government statement.
A tougher path for big tech
Luxon cited government figures showing that one in three children ages 13 to 17 spends at least five hours a day on social media. He said the platforms expose children to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures that can affect family life, mental health, sleep and education.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the bill would place legal obligations on platforms rather than children or their parents. No penalties are proposed for children, parents or caregivers.
But the proposal faces a major political hurdle. Coalition partners ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First oppose the bill in its current form, meaning the governing National Party would need support from elsewhere to get it through Parliament.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has questioned the feasibility and broader consequences of the plan, while ACT leader David Seymour has raised concerns about privacy, identification requirements and whether the policy can actually work.
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The enforcement problem
New Zealand is following Australia, which became the first country to impose a nationwide under-16 social media ban. But Australia’s experience also exposes the biggest weakness in New Zealand’s proposal: keeping determined teenagers off social media may be much harder than passing a law.
Australian authorities have investigated major platforms over compliance, while reports have found that some children can still access restricted services.
That creates a dilemma for New Zealand. Strong age checks could make enforcement more effective, but relying on facial estimation, digital IDs or other verification tools could raise privacy concerns. Meanwhile, children who bypass restrictions could push platforms and regulators into an ongoing technology race.
Luxon acknowledged that the ban would not be perfect. “We won’t get every single child off social media. Some will always find ways around it, but frankly, it’s just way too important not to at least try,” he said at an event, according to Reuters.
Whether the bill advances will depend on its ability to attract support outside the National Party. For platforms and identity providers, however, the proposal reinforces a wider regulatory shift: age assurance is becoming a compliance requirement even as the privacy and reliability of verification technologies remain unresolved.
Read more: TikTok’s stronger EU age-verification system shows how platforms are trying to identify underage users without relying solely on self-declared birthdays.