The New Zealand government announced on Monday that it intends to ban social media sites for children under the age of 16.
The draft law would require social media platforms that the government classifies as "high risk" to take reasonable steps to ensure that users are over 16 years old by using existing account information, facial recognition age estimation techniques, digital identity services, and official identification.
The law will include platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and X.
Education Secretary Erica Stanford said the government is "taking this action to protect young people online, provide support for parents, and hold Big Tech companies to account."
She added: "Currently, children face many risks on the internet without restraint, as harmful content, addictive design, and rapidly emerging technologies reach young people at a time when protection measures have not kept pace with this development."
She explained that "parents are doing their best, but they shouldn't be left alone to face the world's biggest technology companies. We protect children from harm in the physical world. It's time to take protecting them online just as seriously."
Parliament must approve the draft law. The two coalition partners, New Zealand First and ACT, oppose the draft, while the opposition Labour Party has not yet announced its support.
Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, said his party would not support the proposed law. He wrote on Facebook: "We are concerned about the proposed legislation and the path and downward spiral such legislation will inevitably lead our country down."
He added that there is no way to achieve the bill's objective without banning virtual private networks or using digital identity for law enforcement. He said, "This has been proven by the disastrous failure in Australia of similar measures that the National Party is now trying to implement."
It is worth noting that Australia was the first country to restrict access to social media sites for those under 16 in December 2025.
