New Zealand's parliament looks set to pass a ban on social media for under-16s, a platform many Christian organisations use to reach younger audiences.
New Zealand’s opposition Labour party has said it will back a government bill banning social media for under-16s, removing a key obstacle since the ruling coalition’s own partners had not supported it. The bill would require platforms to verify users’ ages, using tools such as facial recognition and digital identity documents, with fines of up to ten per cent of global turnover for non-compliance. Australia introduced a similar ban last year. For Christian media organisations, any move restricting under-16 access to social media touches a channel increasingly used to reach younger audiences with faith-related content, and raises questions about how outreach to teenagers might need to adapt if such bans spread to other countries.
Source: ECMS 2026