Under the proposed law, social media companies would be forced to implement age-verification systems.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has introduced legislation that would block children under 16 from accessing major social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook — a move that is being condemned as an unprecedented expansion of state power over who is permitted to be online.
Under the proposed law, social media companies would be forced to implement age-verification systems, with non-compliant platforms facing penalties of up to 10% of their global revenue — a coercive financial hammer designed to compel mass surveillance of users’ identities and private activity.
The restrictions would also extend to AI companion platforms, while a handful of government-approved services, such as WhatsApp, Roblox and “productivity-focused” AI tools, would remain exempt — a distinction that raises immediate questions about who decides which digital spaces are acceptable and on what authority the state may pick winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas.
This legislation seeks to normalize the idea that access to the Internet is a privilege the government may grant or withhold, rather than a fundamental right. By requiring platforms to verify users’ ages, the law could undermine anonymity online and establish a surveillance infrastructure that could potentially be expanded to adults in the future.
The proposal is therefore one to watch closely, particularly for what it could mean for the future of digital freedom and the limits of government authority online.
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