TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
Political backlash against social media ban bill
- The Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill would require platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to take reasonable steps to check that users are over 16.
- Prime Minister Christopher Luxon acknowledged the bill won't pass before the election, saying "We've got 11 days to go... we're not going to get through to first reading," and "We'll pick this up on the other side of the election."
- ACT leader David Seymour said he was shocked the bill wouldn't reach first reading, having been under the impression Labour was already on board, and his party will vote against the ban using its "agree to disagree" provision.
- NZ First leader Winston Peters said his party would "never support this", stating "The Government is not moving to ban under-16s from social media. The National Party is," and citing concerns about the "slippery slope" and the failure of similar measures in Australia.
Details on the proposed social media bill
- The bill would require age checks for all users using methods including existing account information, digital ID services, formal ID, and facial age estimation, with self-declared dates of birth not sufficient on their own.
- Excluded from the bill are services like Discord, WhatsApp, Roblox, Spotify, LinkedIn, and AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, while AI companions designed to simulate emotional connections are captured.
CuriousCats Full Story
Key Insight
“The bill would require age checks using digital ID or facial estimation, but excludes Discord, WhatsApp, and ChatGPT. ACT's Seymour said he was shocked, while NZ First's Peters cited Australia's failure and the 'slippery slope' as reasons for opposition.”
CuriousCats studied:
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“The National-led Government has introduced legislation to ban under-16s from social media, but it won't reach a vote before the election with its coalition partners opposed.”
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