New Zealand to ban social media for children under 16

New Zealand's government is set to introduce legislation on Monday that would ban children under 16 from using social media, proposing significant financial penalties for platforms that fail to comply. The bill, announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, aims to address growing concerns about the impact of digital platforms on young people's mental health and development. Under the proposed law, social media companies would be required to take reasonable steps to verify users' ages. Acceptable methods could include analyzing existing account information, using facial age-estimation technology, or requiring digital identity documents. Platforms that do not enforce the age restriction could face fines of up to 10 percent of their global revenue, marking a potentially stringent regulatory measure against major technology firms. Prime Minister Luxon framed the move as a necessary intervention to protect a generation of children. "We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children," he said in a statement.