The political party which initiated an inquiry into the harms of social media for young people says it is “embarrassed” and “disappointed” by the outcome, which includes calling for social media to be banned for under-16-year-olds. 

The parliamentary select committee’s report, released today, also recommends establishing an independent national regulator for online safety, regulating social media algorithms and regulating alcohol advertising for young people. 

“Harm to young New Zealanders from online platforms is severe and requires urgent responses from Government, business, and society alike,” the cross-party committee said in its report. 

“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.” 

But the committee’s panel, made up of a mix of cross-party MPs, was not unanimous in its findings. Act and the Green Party disagreed with the calls to ban social media for under-16s, each for different reasons. 

The Education and Workforce Committee inquiry was prompted by Act MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar but in the report, the party says the committee “substantially failed” in the task of “examining the harm that young New Zealanders encounter online and identifying proportional and actionable interventions to address those harm”. 

“And, worse, [the committee] has proposed measures that expand government overreach through new regulators with unclear mandates.” 

The party’s primary concerns for a social media ban included the likelihood New Zealanders would need to provide their ID digitally 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.” 

In November 2024, Australia passed world-first legislation banning social media for under-16s. 

But Act says Australia’s ban has had “the unintended consequence of weakening existing safety protections for young people.” 

The Green Party also disagreed with restricting social media for young people, saying it would not address the key concerns. The party said it was concerned about New Zealanders having to provide personal identification to social media platforms to prove their age “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.” 

The report’s recommendations are: 

1. Address legislative gaps and overlaps 

2. Strengthen liability for online harm 

3. Establish an independent national regulator for online safety 

4. Introduce age restrictions for social media platforms 

5. Ban “nudify” apps and prohibit the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake sexual imagery 

6. Explore options to regulate deepfake technology 

7. Regulate algorithmic recommendation systems 

8. Mandate algorithm transparency 

9. Restrict online advertising of alcohol, tobacco, and gambling 

10. Educate and empower parents, caregivers, and young people 

11. Promote New Zealand-based research 

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