Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill
This bill would stop people under 16 from having accounts on certain social media platforms. Social media companies would be legally required to take reasonable steps to check users' ages and block under-16s from signing up. If a company breaks the rules, a court could fine it up to $2 million. The specific platforms covered would be decided later by the government through regulations. The law would be reviewed three years after it starts.
What this affects
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The bill tries to reduce harm to children's wellbeing by stopping under-16s from accessing social media platforms
The purpose of this Act is to reduce the risk of harm to children from certain kinds of social media platforms by requiring providers of these platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent persons under 16 years of age from accessing them.
reduce the risks to young people of cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
Submissions open once a bill reaches the select committee stage and the committee calls for them. In the meantime, you can write to your local MP about it.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.