ANKARA

The ACT party, one of three parties in New Zealand’s ruling coalition, on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban children under 16 from accessing social media.

The bill, put forward by coalition partner the National Party's member of parliament Catherine Wedd and supported by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, would require social media companies to verify the age of users and prevent those under 16 from accessing their platforms, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.

ACT's opposition has blocked Luxon from moving forward with the bill. Now, other parties outside the government will have to support the bill in order to push for its approval.

ACT's leader, David Seymour, called the proposal "simple, neat and wrong" while speaking in parliament.

"Just slapping on a ban -- hastily-drafted -- won't solve the real problem. The real problem has to involve parents. This solution proposed by National doesn't," he said, adding that he was "really worried" about the impact of social media on children but felt the bill overlooked the "complexities of the internet."

We should “learn from the Australian mistakes, instead of making the mistakes with them," Seymour said.

Wedd had argued that the country needs to do more to mitigate the risks that social media poses to young people.

Winston Peters, the leader of the New Zealand First party, the third member of the ruling coalition, said the proposal had "all the hallmarks of being very necessary" and should be a government bill.

The move comes after Australia passed similar legislation last year, becoming the first government globally to enforce an under-16 social media ban.

While most social media platforms technically prohibit access to users under 13, enforcement has been lax, and children often bypass restrictions. Several platforms have faced criticism for allegedly using algorithms that increase user dependency -- particularly among teens -- though the companies strongly deny such claims.

Multiple studies have linked excessive social media use among youth to lower self-esteem, anxiety and other mental health issues.