Social media ban for under-16s? MP who initiated inquiry disappointed with ‘predetermined’ outcome

“We are deeply concerned about the degree of social, psychological and physiological harms that are occurring … overall, we urge the Government to take urgent action to keep children and young people safe from online harm.”

It says New Zealand’s “best hope” to address social media harms is to align itself with other countries such as Australia, which passed world-first legislation in November 2024 banning social media for under-16s.

Act MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar (left) with party leader David Seymour in 2023. She has dissented from the recommendations of the select committee on which she sits. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

However, its conclusions are not unanimous. Act and the Greens disagreed, for different reasons, with some of the recommendations, including the calls to ban social media for under-16s.

The committee’s inquiry was prompted by Parmar, who now says she is disappointed with the outcome and that committee members came to the inquiry with predetermined solutions.

In the report, Act says the committee “substantially failed” in its task of “examining the harm that young New Zealanders encounter online and identifying proportional and actionable interventions to address those harms”.

And “worse”, the party continued, the proposed measures would expand the Government’s over-reach through “new regulators with unclear mandates”.

The party’s primary concerns around a social media ban included whether New Zealanders would need to provide their ID digitally to prove their age, which it said raised “the spectre of regulating the very tools that protect New Zealanders’ privacy”.

“Act is deeply concerned that the committee declined to seek advice from the Department of Internal Affairs on age restrictions for social media platforms, despite the inquiry being centred on that very issue.

“Act is disappointed and embarrassed that the committee had a lack of understanding of the role of select committees and their relationship with the executive.”

Nudify apps

The committee recommends banning “nudify” apps, which are web or device-based services that automate or make it simple to create fake sexual imagery depicting real people. It also recommends regulating deepfake technology, an issue on which Act MP Laura McClure has campaigned rigorously over the past year.

In the report, Act says it “unequivocally opposes” the creation of such “abhorrent” imagery, but that it does not back the report’s calls for a ban on “nudify” apps because the term has not been clearly defined. The party backs criminalising this behaviour rather than banning the technology.

“Attempting to prohibit software categories without precise definitions risks unintended consequences and legal uncertainty.”

The Green Party also disagreed with restricting social media for young people, saying it would not address the key concerns. It said it was concerned about New Zealanders having to provide personal identification to prove their age to social media platforms “that already cannot be trusted to protect user information”.

“We are also concerned that age restrictions could drive youth from regulated platforms to other fringe, unregulated, and harmful platforms, undermining the purpose of age restrictions.”

In a statement, Labour’s technology and innovation spokesman Reuben Davidson said the report would help “educate and empower parents, caregivers and young people about dangers online”.

“New Zealand needs an independent regulator to make sure online platforms are safe, and to ensure social media companies can be held responsible for the harm they cause,” he said.

“We also need clear rules to control deepfake technology and a ban on ‘nudify’ apps, which pose real risks to young people’s privacy and safety.”

Davidson also has a member’s bill in this space that would place legal duties on online service providers to ensure their platforms are safer.

The report’s recommendations are to:

Address legislative gaps and overlapsStrengthen liability for online harm Establish an independent national regulator for online safetyIntroduce age restrictions for social media platformsBan “nudify” apps and prohibit the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake sexual imageryExplore options to regulate deepfake technologyRegulate algorithmic recommendation systemsMandate algorithm transparencyRestrict online advertising of alcohol, tobacco and gamblingEducate and empower parents, caregivers and young peoplePromote New Zealand-based researchConsider further matters, including virtual private networks (VPNs) as a means to evade restrictions.

The committee members are chairwoman Katie Nimon and deputy chairman Carl Bates (both National MPs), Labour’s Shanan Halbert, Willow-Jean Prime and Phil Twyford, National’s Grant McCallum and Dr Vanessa Weenink, Act’s Dr Parmjeet Parmar and the Greens’ Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.