Last week amid the thunderstorm of anger directed at the Government over pay parity, another potentially troublesome law change was introduced to Parliament. Minister for Education, Erica Stanford, has announced a plan to prohibit people under the age of 16 from being on social media. But as we see below, it has some significant challenges to overcome.
Australia has already introduced a ban for people under 16 from social media. It is due to take effect in December 2025, but the Australian Government has significant hurdles to overcome first, which include – but are not limited to – whether or not it can make the social media giants such as Facebook, X, Youtube, and Tiktok comply.
Even before we start to contemplate such an idea here in New Zealand, we need to note that the A.C.T. Party have already said that they will not support it. This means the Government needs New Zealand First, plus at least one other party in Parliament – from the Opposition – to support its plan.
It will be hugely controversial with parents – some who will be able to appreciate constructive use of social media for educational purposes. Those whose children are interested in making videos, doing school projects or use the existing content on platforms such as Youtube will undoubtedly gain from being able to view content.
Understandably others will see first hand the damaging effects it has on their children. This may be particularly so when the ability to project content can enable content to be spread very quickly and widely. It becomes harmful when pile ons against individuals or groups because something they said/did was seen as whack by their peer community; and questionable material that might be harmful viewing, and videoing socially irresponsible conduct such as fights, explicit or otherwise harmful content.
I think the biggest problem is generally not the people who use it, but how it is governed by the technology companies. All of the social media companies (Tiktok, Facebook, X, Youtube and Instagram) have 13 as the minimum age one can operate an account on their platform. I imagine it will also apply to Snap Chat, Reddit and others too.
How well they enforce that age though I think is the serious question we should be asking. And whether or not they need a graded range, sort of like a censorship guide – G, PG, 13, 16, 18 and so forth – of restrictions, with 18 being fully responsible for ones actions.
Another question to be asked is CAN a national jurisdiction – e.g. New Zealand – MAKE the companies enforce any law change? The social media companies all have their significant differences, but when challenged with having to comply with national law, might be the one time you can get the C.E.O.’s all into the same room and all agreeing to put their extraordinary muscle into fighting back. That extraordinary muscle, coming from companies that generate tens of billions of $$ in revenue each year will be immense, and will involve lawyers looking for every nook and cranny in which they might find a legitimate(?) escape.
A third question about how this will be enforced is potentially Orwellian in the modern sense. Is there going to be monitors in schools standing over students watching what they do on their cellphones and telling them off? Are they going to monitor what happens through ones Internet Service Provider address/es and randomly block anyone under 16 when they go to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube?
And what is going to happen if they get caught? Are there going to be legal consequences for the parents/guardians, and if so what? Or perhaps more importantly SHOULD there be legal consequences when social media companies have responsibility for enforcing their own Terms of Service, and – for whatever reason – fail to do that? A parent or child cannot be responsible for that, surely?
It is not that I think children should have free reign on social media. There are definitely sections of it that should be absolute no go areas, such as obviously pornographic sites, which I would be okay with being designated xxx._______.com, with all such websites being required to have a pop up box with a minimum date of birth, or similar that screens out underage subjects.
But if the Government thinks that this is going to be a controversy free subject then, I suspect a significant portion of New Zealand would like to talk to them about buying a bridge…
Leftist Kiwi Writes 