A year after Luxon backed a social media ban, we are still waiting

Thursday, 21 May 2026

Things are getting a little murky with the social media ban, here's what you need to know.

Keith Lynch is Stuff Digital’s Editor-in-Chief.

OPINION: Last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced that he was ‘deeply supportive’ of banning social media for under 16s.

The move would mirror Australia’s recent move to ban children from using TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, Reddit and Snapchat.

We all know how intrusive these platforms are in our daily lives. But many believe that for years, something much more sinister has been happening.

As The Guardian reported in 2024, “Among US college students, diagnoses of depression and anxiety more than doubled between 2010 and 2018. More worrying still, in the decade to 2020 the number of emergency room visits for self-harm rose by 188% among teenage girls in the US and 48% among boys. The suicide rate for younger adolescents also increased, by 167% among girls and 91% among boys.”

An Australian government-commissioned 2025 study on the impacts of social media on children found, according to BBC reporting, that “96% of children aged 10-15 used social media, and that seven out of 10 of them had been exposed to harmful content. This included misogynistic and violent material as well as content promoting eating disorders and suicide. One in seven also reported experiencing grooming-type behaviour from adults or older children, and more than half said they had been the victim of cyberbullying.”

And here? Well, a recent Education and Workforce committee said the following: “We conclude that harm to young New Zealanders from online platforms is severe and requires urgent responses from Government, business, and society alike.” (You can download the document here).

It appeared, after Luxon’s comments last year, that New Zealand would finally do something about the social media platforms, following Australia’s lead. But maybe not?

As Stuff’s Glenn McConnell reported over the weekend, the government scrambled to pause a member’s bill from National backbencher Catherine Wedd which would see parliament vote on the social media ban.

They have now succeeded, leaving Wedd’s bill in political hinterland, wasting away at the bottom of the order paper until the government is ready to adopt it or Wedd is ready to withdraw it.

National's argument appears to be that a new bill, to be brought by Education Minister Erica Stanford, would be more expansive. Stanford, herself, is still promising progress, as Jenna Lynch reports in Stuff today.

But still… here we are, more than 12 months since the PM spoke about the issue, still awaiting desperately needed action for our children and young people. An election is looming and yet the platforms continue to have a wholly unchecked influence on all our lives.

As the committee found, the global platforms are simply not doing enough. And why would they? Now is the time for the government to actually progress something. There are valid concerns around poor enforcement of the ban in Australia and there are no silver bullets as Stanford says.

But New Zealand must send a clear message, and they cannot delay any longer: enough is enough.

This week Stuff is reporting in-depth on the proposed social media ban. Are you a parent, a teacher, or a teenager with a view? We want to hear from you about the harms of social media. Let us know what you think in the comments or you can provide a more expansive take in the Form below. We’ll publish a selection of the best comments.