{
  "id": 2953265,
  "title": "New Zealand moves to ban social media for under-16s",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s-2953265",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T05:52:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20260824/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Wellington — The New Zealand government plans to introduce legislation banning individuals under 16 from using social media platforms, joining a growing list of nations aiming to protect younger generations from the potential harms of these sites. The Online Safety Bill has been under investigation for over a year, following Australia's introduction of similar legislation in December.\n\nThe Online Safety Bill would impose significant penalties, with companies like Meta facing fines up to 10 percent of their global revenue for non-compliance. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated that the government cannot condone the harm being inflicted on New Zealand's children. According to Luxon, one in three children aged 13 to 17 now spend at least five hours daily on social media.\n\nLuxon highlighted the negative impacts of social media on children, citing exposure to harmful content, addictive technologies, and pressures they are ill-prepared to handle. These factors, he argued, are adversely affecting children's family life, mental health, sleep patterns, and educational outcomes. He specifically named Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook as platforms that would be required to implement the measures outlined in the bill.",
  "summary": "WELLINGTON — New Zealand's government will introduce legislation on Monday banning under 16s from using social media, joining a number of countries seeking to keep youngsters off sites such as Instagram and TikTok. New Zealand has been investigating a social media ban for over a year, after neighbouring Australia implemented its world-first legislation in December. Under the Online Safety Bill,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "New Zealand moves to ban social media for under-16s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s",
        "published": "2026-08-24T05:42:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Nikkei Asia",
        "title": "New Zealand moves to ban social media for under-16s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s-2972189",
        "published": "2026-08-24T05:43:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "New Zealand moves to ban social media for under-16s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s-2961466",
        "published": "2026-08-24T06:42:17.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "RTE News",
        "title": "New Zealand moves to ban social media for under-16s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/new-zealand-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-under-16s-2965247",
        "published": "2026-08-24T06:42:49.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}