Neil Sands
New Zealand is not big enough to effectively ban under-16s from social media by itself but can align with like-minded nations as part of an international movement to regulate online harm and make tech giants accountable, Parliament’s Education & Workforce Select Committee says.
The committee has published its final report into the online harm facing children in New Zealand, doubling down on calls in its draft report, released in December, to ban children from social media and create a national online safety regular with sufficient powers to and hold digital platforms to account.
The committee found that online platforms were inflicting severe harm on young New Zealanders and must be urgently addressed by the government.
However, it also pointed out that “online harm is fast-moving and occurring on a global scale”, concluding that a global problem requires a global solution involving international cooperation that will provide leverage New Zealand cannot hope to wield alone.
“One of our key takeaways from this inquiry is that regulating offshore companies’ activities within New Zealand is particularly difficult in an online context,” it said. “New Zealand’s economic might is unlikely to be persuasive enough to drive change for offshore companies that provide online services accessible by New Zealand youth.
“We therefore consider that New Zealand’s best hope to address harms of all kinds from online platforms is to align itself with other countries. In particular, we view the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), and Australia as countries New Zealand should seek to align itself with.”
The difficulties of regulating overseas-based platforms was highlighted a submission that The Law Association (TLANZ’) made to the committee, involving a notorious US-based pro-suicide forum which has been linked to the deaths of five young Kiwis but simply ignored takedown requests from New Zealand authorities.
EU model
The report said that: “Regulating to prevent online harm is an international movement, often with broad political support, and we strongly consider that New Zealand should be part of it.”
“We believe New Zealand should be a ‘fast follower’ rather than a ‘first mover’ internationally. That said, it cannot allow itself to be left behind as others take strides to create a safe online environment for young people,” it said.
”In our assessment, we have concluded that lagging behind other countries, or trying to be “unique” in our approach (beyond what is necessary to create supporting domestic infrastructure suited to our laws and context) would both result in poor outcomes for New Zealand’s rangatahi (youth).”
Australia introduced a world-first ban on children under 16 holding or creating social media accounts in December. Courts can order civil penalties for online platforms that do not comply with the requirements. France, Demark, Germany, Greece, Spain, and Indonesia are all exploring bans or preparing to introduce them.
Australia also intends to ban “nudify” apps, which can be used to create non-consensual, deepfake sexual images. The select committee strongly supported New Zealand following suit.
The select committee noted that both the UK and Australia have national online safety regulators, in contrast to the “fragmented” and “inefficient” regime in New Zealand.
But it cited the EU’s online regulatory regime as a model for New Zealand.
“The majority of us consider that the EU’s regulatory regime, including its Digital Services Act, is the closest example of how we envisage New Zealand regulation could evolve. In particular, we see it as a model for how platforms could proportionately be held liable for hosting harmful and illegal content, should the government agree to explore this further.
The EU’s Digital Services Act requires online platforms to implement safety measures to protect young people, including tools for age verification and parental controls. It also contains measures aimed at minimising online disinformation, cyberbullying and illegal content.
High-profile cases involving the EU legislation include a 120 million Euro (NZ$235 million) fine imposed on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) for lack of transparency and ongoing proceedings against Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein over allegedly addictice design features.
Dissenting views
The committee’s report said that online experiences “have real-world health implications, mentally, physically, and developmentally”, including the distress caused by deepfake sexual imagery and addictive platform design. “[They] can also affect school attendance and educational outcomes.”
However, the ACT Party said the report failed to properly define the harm it was trying to address, accusing the committee of promoting “half-baked policy” that risks undermining privacy and free expression.
ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar said the verification needed for an age-related social media ban represented “a major shift toward online identification and surveillance” for adults, as well as children.
“ACT does not support any move that forces New Zealanders to hand over personal identification to social media companies,” she said.
Parmar also said online regulators in Australia and the UK had faced criticism for overreach. She was also concerned at a recommendation to explore restrictions on accessing virtual private networks (VPNs), saying they were legitimate tools used by businesses, journalists, and everyday New Zealanders.
The Green Party also opposed any move to limit VPN use as “misguided” and said a social media ban would risk pushing children from regulated platforms to less safe part of the internet. It said the focus should be on fixing the harmful content that platforms host and promote through algorithms, rather than a blanket ban.
The government has until June 3 to respond to the report. In reality, widespread reform is unlikely in an election year, although some of the issues raised in the report are being addressed in a piecemeal fashion through private member’s bills.
National MP Catherine Wedd has a member’s bill that would ban children from social media, which Education Minister Erica Stanford is examining to see how it would work, while ACT MP Laura McClure, has a bill that would criminalise the creation, possession, publication and sale of sexually explicit deepfakes.
Another member’s bill from Labour MP Reuben Davidson puts the onus on platforms to prevent access to harmful material and adopt “safety by design” regarding algorithms, detection of harmful content and complaints handling.
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