David Seymour ponders smartphone ban for under-16s, instead of social media ban

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

ACT leader David Seymour thinks children should have access only to “dumb phones”.

ACT leader David Seymour suggests banning smartphone ownership for children under 16, proposing Parliament define suitable 'dumb phones' instead.

The smartphone ban proposal is not official ACT Party or Government policy, Seymour stressed during his speech.

NZ First leader Winston Peters says the government “should not take over parental decisions…to try and solve social media issues”.

National Party's proposed social media ban for children lacks support from coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First.

NZ First leader Winston Peters says ACT leader David Seymour’s suggestion of introducing a ban on children having their own smartphones is “making our country sound like it’s turning into some sort of totalitarian state”.

The National Party is trying to ban kids from social media, but its coalition partners - including ACT - have indicated they won’t support that move. Instead, Seymour is now suggesting a different ban to solve the issue.

In a somewhat surprising turn for the ACT leader, which Seymour noted during a speech on Wednesday evening, he suggested a ban on children having smartphones.

Education Minister Erica Stanford, who is in charge of New Zealand’s response, said the UK’s move was helpful in building a consensus to stand up to the social media giants.

“Parliament could pass a law defining what constitutes a ‘dumb phone’ suitable for a person under 16. Prohibit the purchase, possession, and supply of smartphones for under-16s,” Seymour suggested, during a speech to youth development charity, the Graeme Dingle Foundation.

He stressed this idea was not ACT Party, or Government, policy. “To be clear, I don’t even know if the Government trying to ban smartphones for under-16s is a good idea,” he said.

But he told Stuff that he did believe his ACT Party, a libertarian party typically opposed to Government interference in everyday life, could be on board with a smartphone ban for under-16s.

“I would just point out that this [proposal] is not in my instinct, but it is a lot more practical than the idea of trying to police the internet, and ultimately the job is to try and save childhood without policing adulthood,” Seymour told Stuff ahead of the speech.

He said the ban was the same as existing restrictions on alcohol and tobacco.

“We have always been libertarian, but we’ve never extended libertarianism to children,” he said, when asked if the ACT Party would actually support this.

Peters warns of ‘totalitarian state’

Winston Peters did not mince his words when reacting to his coalition partner’s proposal, saying the government “should not take over parental decisions…to try and solve social media issues”.

“Banning smartphones for under-16s won’t solve anything apart from making our country sound like it’s turning into some sort of totalitarian state,” the NZ First leader said on social media.

“Why are some parties thinking it’s now an acceptable option for the government to take away parent’s rights to make decisions for their children? Where has the expectation of parental responsibility gone?”

Seymour says bans imperfect, but do restrict access

Seymour acknowledged the ban would be imperfect, in the same way that teenagers often can find booze and cigarettes. But, he said those bans did limit access and changed societal expectations about those products.

“Most of the community does unite around the norm that teenagers shouldn't be drinking and smoking,” Seymour said.

He argued that same consensus wasn’t shared around smartphones, despite social media causing harm for many children.

And he said the National Party had failed to find a workable solution to that issue. Of its plans so far, he said: “The solutions that have been put up so far are totally crazy and unworkable, and the Australians have found that.”

Luxon wants a social media ban for children

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had said he wanted to introduce a social media ban for kids as a Government policy, and as a result the National Party stalled one of its MPs’ private member’s bills.

But Seymour said he was unsure if the Government would be able to pass such a ban. National has turned to Labour to try to get support for the bill, and Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Stuff his party was likely to support the bill at first reading - but wouldn’t guarantee support beyond that.

Seymour’s speech proposed letting children have “dumb phones when they need them”, which would mean they could still call and text people. But he said giving kids “a super computer with a high resolution camera” for their pocket had been damaging.

“This is putting an idea out there because parents are embattled and they need solutions. We need to save - or rebuild - childhood, without crazy ideas that would allow privacy and internet freedom to be ruined for adults,” he said.

He said the idea was imperfect, and told Stuff he had only come around to the idea recently. He said it was likely the first time an ACT politician had proposed banning anything.

But he told those at the dinner on Wednesday night that, while this mightn’t be a perfect idea, “I am sure that it’s not as bad as the proposed social media ban.”