Select Committee Findings Show Online Harm Is A Public-Health Issue – Government Must Act Urgently

Today’s interim report from the Education and Workforce Select Committee highlights the scale and seriousness of the harms young people in Aotearoa are encountering online and B416 says this confirms it is a public health issue that requires a public health response.

B416 welcomes the interim report, and strongly supports the Committee’s direction that age-assurance and age-restriction measures be examined as part of the solution.

With Australia’s age-16 law coming into force today, B416 co-chair Cecilia Robinson says New Zealand can no longer afford to wait.

“Australian kids now have stronger protections than Kiwi kids. Their government has moved, and ours must do the same. The Select Committee has laid out the scale of harm. Now we need legislative action.”

The Select Committee interim report follows hundreds of submissions from parents, teachers, clinicians, researchers and young people, showing that children in Aotearoa are being exposed to violent, sexual, manipulative and addictive content at levels far beyond what is acceptable.

A majority of Select Committee members express support for restricting access to social media for under-16s, acknowledging that while age-verification challenges exist, the level of harm “warrants introducing an age-delay restriction as part of a broader reform agenda.”

Robinson says the Committee’s findings reflect what whānau and frontline professionals have been warning for years.

“The evidence is now overwhelming. Looking at age restrictions is about protecting children, not punishing them. The harm young people face online requires a response that matches its scale.”

B416 Academic Advisor and University of Auckland researcher Dr Samantha Marsh says the evidence shows children cannot be expected to withstand the current digital environment on their own.

“We can’t keep exposing children to an unsafe online environment while we try to redesign it. And it is unrealistic to expect young people to self-regulate in spaces engineered to overwhelm the developing brain.”

The interim report signals the need for a stepped change in how New Zealand tackles online harm, urging a coordinated national strategy, stronger regulation, clearer accountability across government agencies, and action that centres children’s wellbeing.

Robinson says a minimum age is fundamentally a social-norming measure, similar to past public-health shifts.

“Every social change has a transition period. But the next generation will simply grow up knowing they don’t have access to social media under a certain age. What starts as a rule becomes normal – just like smoking in bars, the drinking age or phone-free schools.”

While there are early signs of cross-party willingness to strengthen online protections, firm commitments have not yet been made. B416 urges all political leaders to put aside politics and act with urgency.

“Parents across the political spectrum are asking for action. Teachers and clinicians are asking for action. Rangatahi themselves are asking for safer online environments,” Robinson says.

“Parents and teachers can’t carry this. The onus must sit with the platforms, backed by enforceable law. We need age assurance, a modern regulator and rules that reflect how these technologies actually work.”

B416 thanks the Committee for its rigorous work.

About B416

B416 is a New Zealand charity advocating for a minimum age of 16 for social media access to protect children’s wellbeing online. The organisation works with researchers, clinicians, educators and parents to promote evidence-based solutions for safer digital environments.

On November 18 the group handed over their petition, with 44,416 signatures, calling for an age limit for social media. Here is the link to the petition: https://petitions.parliament.nz/605f6b8f-65f6-4afa-1c46-08dd8b53ae4b?lang=en

© Scoop Media