New Zealand to introduce bill banning social media for children under 16

New ​Zealand's conservative coalition ​government will introduce ‌a bill ​in Parliament on Monday that seeks to ban ‌children under 16 from using social media, and proposes fines of up to 10% ‌of a platform's global revenue for non-compliance. The ‌bill would require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to verify users' ages, including ⁠by ​using existing ⁠account information, facial technology and digital identity documents.

"We ⁠simply cannot accept the harm being done ​to a generation of New Zealand children," ⁠Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement. "Social ⁠media ​is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are ⁠not equipped to deal with and it's affecting ⁠their ⁠family life, mental health, sleep, and education," Luxon said.