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SYDNEY: New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on \u200bMonday his party will introduce a bill in Parliament that seeks \u200cto ban children under 16 from using social media, proposing fines of up to 10% of a platform\u2019s global revenue for non-compliance.<\/strong><\/p>\n The bill would require social media platforms to \u200btake reasonable steps to verify users\u2019 ages, including by utilising existing \u200baccount information, facial technology and digital identity documents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe simply cannot accept \u2060the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,\u201d Luxon \u200bsaid in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology \u200band pressures they are not equipped to deal with and it\u2019s affecting their family life, mental health, sleep and education.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear if the bill would garner sufficient \u200bsupport to pass through Parliament, with one of Luxon\u2019s coalition partners, the New \u200bZealand First party, saying it would not support it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been concerned with the proposed \u200clegislation \u2060and the direction and slippery slope that legislation like this will inevitably take our country,\u201d New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who is also the country\u2019s foreign minister, said in a post on X.<\/p>\n In December, Australia became the world\u2019s \u200bfirst country to \u200bban social media \u2060for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet\u2019s, YouTube and Meta\u2019s, Instagram and Facebook.<\/p>\n That legislation had been \u200ba \u201ccolossal failure,\u201d Peters said, adding that keeping children off \u200bsocial media \u2060should be the responsibility of parents.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t pretend that it will be simple or that it will be perfect,\u201d Luxon said at an event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t get every \u2060single \u200bchild off social media. Some will always find \u200bways around it, but frankly, it\u2019s just way too important not to at least try.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n