can route an internet user\u2019s traffic through servers overseas<\/a>, which can allow them to get around location or access restrictions. <\/p>\nIn response to an Official Information Act (OIA) request from the Herald, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said it had provided advice that refers to the VPNs in the context of how they can be used to circumvent proposed social media age restrictions. <\/p>\n
However, DIA confirmed it \u201chas not provided advice on options to restrict, ban or regulate the use of VPNs, nor has it received any direction to develop such advice\u201d. <\/p>\n
In a factsheet, the Government said the legislation does not regulate VPNs at all. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the risk that some users may attempt to use tools such as VPNs to get around restrictions, and this has been considered in the design of the regime,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlatforms can already use tools to help identify when users may be attempting to bypass restrictions by using a VPN and are expected to respond appropriately. Recent evidence from Australia shows that VPN usage by children to get around age restrictions is very low, only 3%.\u201d <\/p>\n
An unserious solution to a serious problem – Act<\/p>\n
Act leader David Seymour said his party had used its agree-to-disagree provision to vote against the ban. <\/p>\n
Seymour said he was concerned about what social media was doing to young people, but that the proposal coming from National was unworkable.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeenagers are remarkably good at getting around restrictions on the internet. Any system strong enough to reliably stop them will inevitably start asking a lot more of everybody else,\u201d Seymour said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAny Government trying to implement a ban faces two basic choices. They can make it so strong that adults are caught up in it, like France where the Government is going back to the drawing board after their top Court struck the law out. Or, they can make the law so weak that it makes little difference, as Australia has found with nearly all children still on social media as if there is no ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis law follows the Australian model, more of a face-saver for politicians who promised too much than a serious solution. You only have to look at the bill to see it is a call for \u2018best efforts\u2019 even concluding it is more about \u2018social norms\u2019 than results,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Bill could lead to \u2018Soviet-era\u2019 restrictions – NZ First <\/p>\n
NZ First leader Winston Peters took to social media to distance himself from the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government is not moving to ban U16s from social media. The National Party is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand First understands and agrees with the intent of the law change – no one is more concerned and shares the anxiety that parents are feeling about this issue – but we will not be supporting the progression of legislation to ban social media for under-16s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have communicated our concerns to National over the past year. Our stance has not changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Peters said his party\u2019s concerns were that the bill would become a \u201cslippery slope\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is, no matter how laudable the intent is of introducing laws to address this serious issue, there is no method that would fulfil that intent without banning VPNs or the use of digital ID to enforce the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been proven with the colossal failure of Australia bringing in similar measures that National want to bring in now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Peters said tools of this kind would \u201clead to a Soviet-era outcome that would be guaranteed to take New Zealanders\u2019 freedoms and privacy away\u201d.<\/p>\n
Labour wants more information before decision <\/p>\n
On Friday, Labour\u2019s technology and media spokesman Reuben Davidson wrote to Stanford requesting \u201cadditional documents and clarification\u201d before Labour could decide whether it would support the bill.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged Stanford had allowed Labour a chance to review the bill and two regulatory impact statements, but asked for greater access.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do wish to note that having only a single copy of the Bill and RIS documents to share among a number of colleagues created some logistical difficulties in relation to access.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an ideal world, we would welcome a further opportunity to review the Bill more thoroughly, and I raise this simply in the spirit of ensuring we are well-placed to give it the consideration it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davidson requested to see further assessments related to the bill concerning its impact on children, privacy, the Treaty and human rights.<\/p>\n
Labour has a caucus meeting on Tuesday when it is likely to discuss the bill, although it may not decide whether or not to support it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several methods could be used to do this, including \u201cusing existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4619,7127,18919,1060,5195,3013,8908,188101,1888,71,266,13441,20513,1073,29484,111,43,139,69,282248,1523,11747,29158,8997,1072,3057,199,61,1865,8238,16742,1533,4741,24750],"class_list":["post-578525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-act","tag-age","tag-aged","tag-ban","tag-be","tag-but","tag-check","tag-disagree","tag-first","tag-from","tag-government","tag-introduced","tag-legislation","tag-media","tag-minimum","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-onus","tag-over","tag-platforms","tag-putting","tag-reasonable","tag-social","tag-steps","tag-take","tag-to","tag-today","tag-under","tag-users","tag-will","tag-young","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}