New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposal to ban children under 16 from using social media, citing concerns about the harm being done to a generation of young people. In a statement, Prime Minister Luxon said that his party would introduce the bill in Parliament, with social media platforms facing fines of up to 10 per cent of their global revenue if they fail to comply. The proposal would cover platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook.
However, the proposal faces an uphill battle in Parliament. Two of the three parties in Prime Minister Luxon’s coalition government, Libertarian ACT and New Zealand First, oppose the bill, meaning it would need support from opposition lawmakers to pass. The opposition has not yet decided how it will vote. Mr Luxon said there was not enough time to vote on the proposal before Parliament was due to dissolve on 1st of October ahead of the November election. Bills must pass three rounds of voting, a process that usually takes several months.
The proposal follows similar moves by other countries to restrict children’s access to social media. In December last year, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16. Since then, countries including Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have also enacted bans, while several other countries are considering or developing similar laws.
