The Policy: National Social Media Age Restriction — September 2023 →

TL;DR

• The idea is to stop under-16s from using social media, and to make the platforms (like Instagram and TikTok) responsible for checking users' ages.
• National MP Catherine Wedd has written a proposed law to do this, announced on 6 May 2025. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has also asked the government to look into it, with Education Minister Erica Stanford leading that work.
• A campaign group called B416, backed by well-known business figures, has pushed hard for a ban. They point to Australia, which passed a world-first under-16 ban in late 2024.
• Supporters say social media companies knowingly expose children to harm. They point to former Meta staff who spoke out, and documentaries about the dangers of social media.
• Social media companies Meta and TikTok have asked MPs not to bring in what they call a "blunt" ban, suggesting safer platform design might work better.
• This is not law yet. A proposed bill exists and the government is investigating, but nothing has passed. Hard questions remain about how you'd actually check people's ages and protect their privacy.

More detail

The big practical challenge is age verification. To keep under-16s off social media, platforms would need a reliable way to check how old everyone is — which could mean collecting ID or other personal information from all users, raising privacy concerns.

Supporters argue that children face real harm online, and that a clear age limit is simpler to enforce than trying to make every platform safer. Critics argue a ban might just push kids to lie about their age or move to less-regulated corners of the internet, and that better platform design could do more good. Australia's experience is being watched closely to see whether its ban actually works.

This is one to watch before the 2026 election.