Social media companies would have few incentives to do the policing of any age restrictions. File photo. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
The government needs to take the lead on implementing any age verification processes in its proposal to restrict social media use for under-16s, rather than relying on social media platforms to do the policing, an information systems expert says.
National MP Catherine Wedd's member's Bill would - if passed into law - require social media platforms to verify that users are aged 16 or over.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced on Sunday that the government will look into a ban as part of its work programme.
University of Auckland lecturer Shohil Kishore, whose research focuses on social media, said the proposed ban was a step in the right direction, but would meet obstacles in its implementation.
He said social media platforms generated huge revenues from advertising - including advertising to children - and would be reluctant to devote resources to enforcing the rules.
"I don't think they're going to like doing this, it will just be extra work for them, but it is really important for us as a country to think about how we can regulate technology to best serve us," he said.
Kishore said it would also be unsafe, from a data privacy perspective, for social media companies to be tasked with age verification processes.
He said the safest way would be for the age verification to be done through a government service, such as the Realme service which was already being used.
Kishore said the cost of implementation needed to be part of the government's discussions around this proposal.
He expected that this would be a significant cost.
Social media platforms also needed to step up to their moral responsibilities, he said.
"This lack of accountability that we currently have is completely unfair for kids, it puts them at risk of sexual exploitation, cyber bullying and exposure to a lot of harmful content , so they [companies] have to be accountable, we have to make sure these platforms are accountable," said Kishore.
Kishore said he hoped that the government will also consider other factors, and bring social media platforms, parents and schools into the conversation.
He said parents often lacked awareness about the kind of content children were exposed to - such as "confession pages" set up by students, where children were posting anonymously and engaging in cyber bullying.
Another aspect to consider was the definition of social media, and whether online interactive games such as Roblox would be included in the definition, he said.
National MP Catherine Wedd's member's Bill would - if passed into law - require social media platforms to verify that users are aged 16 or over. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wedd's bill does not currently have the formal backing of the coalition government - meaning that if it is randomly drawn from the current crop of members' bills, it would then be debated in Parliament, before all MPs would vote on its future. However, the members' bill does have the backing of the prime minister - who has earlier said he wanted the government to explore possibly backing it into law quicker.
ACT opposed the ban, preventing National from pushing ahead with a government bill.
ACT leader David Seymour said he was concerned about social media's effect on children, but wanted a public inquiry to explore options.
Seymour is backing the new plan to set up a policy advisory group, however, he told Morning Report Luxon's optimism may have got ahead of him in saying ACT had shifted its position on a social media ban for under 16s.
"Maybe he's letting the sunny optimism get a bit ahead of him but we reserve the right to speak for our own position, and, if anything, in the last week the rest of politics has come towards ACT's position," Seymour said.
"... We can't do an immediate bill, there's got to be more investigation into what's happening on social media."
Seymour said we need to "stop, collaborate and listen".
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
