While concern about teen social media use continues to simmer, the tech giants are warning NZ against emulating Australia’s blanket crackdown, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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Select committee hearing begins
Parliament’s inquiry into social media harms to young people has begun hearing submissions, after being set up by Act in response to National MP Catherine Wedd’s bill to ban under-16s from the platforms. The party that initiated the inquiry remains sceptical of Wedd’s proposal: Act MP Parmjeet Parmar has said the inquiry is needed to ensure ministers avoided “a knee-jerk reaction” to mounting concern about the effects of social media on teenagers.
Meta and TikTok made submissions to the select committee on Monday, with both companies urging MPs to tread carefully, The Post’s Harriet Laughton reports (paywalled). TikTok warned that bans could have unintended consequences, noting that experts have raised “serious concerns” about Australia’s own impending ban. Both platforms already place some limits on teenage users through tools which set accounts to private by default, restrict messaging and prevent live streaming, among other restrictions.
High-profile campaign hopes to push ministers to action
The inquiry is the latest step in a fast-moving debate that began in May with Wedd’s private member’s bill requiring platforms to verify users are at least 16. The bill, currently languishing in the parliamentary biscuit tin, lacks formal coalition backing but prime minister Christopher Luxon has publicly supported the idea. He asked education minister Erica Stanford to examine how similar restrictions could be developed for Cabinet consideration, potentially superseding Wedd’s legislation.
Luxon’s announcement coincided with the launch of B416, a well-funded advocacy group of parents, tech experts and business leaders campaigning for an age-limit law. The group, which includes entrepreneur Cecilia Robinson and multi-millionaire toy manufacturer Anna Mowbray, argues that social media platforms should be brought in line with age limits already in place for other harmful products. Their petition calling on ministers to introduce an under-16 ban has attracted nearly 28,000 signatures with more than a month left to run.
Public in favour of limits
Public opinion, at least, appears to favour some form of restriction. A June RNZ Reid Research poll found 58% of New Zealanders backed a ban on social-media access for under-16s. The annual Ipsos Education Monitor showed even stronger support, at least regarding younger users – 72% agreed with a blanket ban for children under 14, according to Morning Report. Ipsos country manager Carin Hercock said concern about young people’s mental health, cited by 44% of respondents as the biggest challenge facing youth, was driving the appetite for tighter controls.
Research from 2022 offers a sense of what’s at stake: 97% of New Zealand teens said they went online several times a day and nearly 60% spent over five hours daily on social media. The same study found extensive exposure to online marketing for alcohol, vaping and gambling – content that many adults say justifies firmer regulation.
Australia gears up for world-first ban
Across the Tasman, the model New Zealand is watching closely is already straining at the seams. Australia’s world-first under-16s social-media ban takes effect on December 10, but it’s still not clear which platforms will be affected. The Guardian’s Josh Taylor reported last month that the country’s eSafety Commissioner had contacted an unexpectedly broad list of companies, including Reddit, Twitch, Roblox and even dating-app owner Match, to assess whether they must comply.
Yet, despite the government’s attempts to cover all bases, Taylor has also reported that children could still encounter “gambling content, violent images, far-right material and conspiracy theories simply by not logging in” to sites such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts. In one experiment, both apps began feeding violent and extremist videos to a logged-out user on a factory-reset phone. Such loopholes suggest the Australian rollout may be anything but seamless. If New Zealand follows suit, the hardest task may not be setting the rules, but making sure they actually have the desired effect.
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