New Zealand’s main opposition party supports social media ban for under-16s

New Zealand's main opposition party, Labour, has stated its support for a proposed ban on social media for individuals under the age of 16. This news comes as a significant milestone for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as his coalition partners had previously expressed their opposition to the legislation.

Luxon had proposed that social media platforms take reasonable measures to verify users' ages, including utilizing existing account information, facial recognition technology, and digital identity documents. Violations of these measures could result in fines of up to 10% of the platform's global revenue.

With Labour's endorsement, there is no longer an obstacle for the government to move forward with the bill. Labour Leader Chris Hipkins announced that the party expects the bill to pass its first reading before the upcoming election scheduled for November 7th. However, the bill's passage is now in question due to the opposition of two coalition partners, New Zealand First and the ACT Party.

New Zealand First's leader, Winston Peters, who also serves as the country's foreign minister, expressed concerns about the proposed legislation, calling it a slippery slope that could have negative consequences for the nation.