Source: Trend Analysis Network
Initial analysis of the recently introduced member’s bill: ‘Social Media (Age-Restricted User) Bill’ appears to indicate the legislation does not meet its own criteria with regard to its purpose or scope.
Firstly, the bill as written is a piece of universal legislation not targeted, as it purports to “regulate access for individuals under the age of 16.”
To implement the terms in the clauses requires age and identity verification of all adults in New Zealand, who wish to use their social media accounts. It will require all adult users to verify they are NOT children.
Secondly, the intent of this bill to “protect children from the harms of social media” will be circumvented by the very audience it is attempting to protect.
Children are reliant on social media for communication between peers. Attempting a blanket ban of all under 16s from all social media resources will not reduce their intent or desire to message, post or share information with peers. Instead, it is likely to encourage children to rely on integrated message and chat services in games, underground or on darkweb resources. It takes a few minutes to setup access to unofficial or darkweb resources and then continue messaging and sharing with no age controls.
Thirdly, the bill places its reliance and success entirely on social media corporations, some of which have recently had data breaches.
Based on news headlines, Facebook apparently had a mass data breach in May 2025, Instagram had potentially hackers obtain credentials and share them on the web also in May 2025, and apparently WhatsApp had a data leak possibly as recently as February 2025.
To introduce legislation that requires third parties to obtain personal data from New Zealanders, while not offering any data protection or data privacy measures, appears to be a substantial omission.
This legislation has been written with a limited understanding of scope or technological context, and could result in the opposite of its intent. Perhaps a more prudent measure is to delay such legislation, and await the outcomes from similar legislation in Australia.
Trend Analysis Network is a research think tank based in New Zealand created to identify and publish analytical results of future trends in politics, society, and economics.
