Social media regulation goes viral as NZ, EU look to follow Australia

Can regulation go viral? It’s not a bad way to describe what’s happening with online safety legislation related to age restrictions for social media. Australia has led the way, running the Age Assurance Technology Trial in tandem with legislative activity; what has been called its “under-16 ban” for social media platforms takes effect on December 10. Other territories are following it with their own versions of a law mandating age checks for social accounts. New Zealand is one, the EU another.

Social media law to be introduced to NZ parliament

New Zealand is proceeding to introduce a bill to restrict social media for children under 16 in the nation’s parliament. A report from AsiaOne says the proposed legislation will have age assurance requirements that are similar to those in Australia. There is no timeline on when, exactly, the bill will land in parliament. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has raised concerns about youth mental health, misinformation, bullying and harmful depictions of body image, and a report on investigations into the role social media plays in these harms is due in early 2026.

Meanwhile, there is opposition from privacy and civil liberties advocates (and the privacy commissioner). In a statement, Nathan Seiuli, the executive director of rights organization Pillar, says that “aligning with international efforts may sound responsible, but it is lazy policymaking.”

Andy Lulham, chief operating officer at age assurance provider Verifymy, says polling suggests the New Zealand public narrowly supports a ban for under-16s.

“While the progress of Catherine Wedd’s bill is not guaranteed, politicians will be able to point to the reliability of age checks, highly effective at supporting age-appropriate experiences and road-tested at scale in the UK as part of the Online Safety Act. Email-based age checks, which can be completed in seconds, are quickly becoming a go-to method for users to show they’re old enough for adult goods and services while preserving their privacy.”

EU weighs digital age of majority – but should it be 15 or 16?

International coordination, however, is an overarching goal of the age assurance sector – at least in the matter of international standards. The EU is also moving toward a more aligned approach across the bloc, with leaders set to table a “digital age of majority,” according to a report from MLex.

Many European nations have introduced online safety legislation for adult content, and many are keen to do the same for social media. Officials from Denmark and Greece have been vocal about the effort to impose age checks. Italy and Spain are among the first EU nations to customize the European Commission’s white label software as a national age verification app. France reportedly “pushed for its inclusion in the draft political statement, dated Oct. 21, at the last minute.”

A first step would be to define a “digital age of majority,” which various nations currently set at various thresholds. The European Commission initially said it would not consider setting an age of majority across the bloc. But Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recently shown more interest in stronger legislation, and there is momentum in the EU, with 27 nations having signed a non-binding declaration earlier this month supporting a digital age of majority for social platforms.

Coverage in Politico reveals the gaps in policy between EU nations on the question of where to set the threshold. “Denmark, France and Greece are in the 15 and above camp. Denmark is moving ahead, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announcing plans this month to demand parental controls for social media platforms for children under 15.”

“Spain supports a digital age of majority at 16, which Slovakia has also previously expressed support for.” Australia, of course, has laid the first card with its under-16 ban.

There is also disagreement over the question of parental consent. Some nations, such as Greece, the Netherlands and Spain, feel that permission from parents should be enough to allow kids under 15 to open social media accounts. Others, like France, want an outright ban, parental consent or no.

Reddit agrees to disagree with UK Information Commissioner

Regardless of what policymakers say, large online platforms remain firmly opposed to online safety legislation, or at least firmly committed to interrogating it. Reddit has taken umbrage with an assessment by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which says its age verification measures, provided in part by Persona, may not comply with the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code and is threatening fines.

Reddit claims there are “significant flaws” in the ICO’s assessment, according to MLex, which says Reddit “remains open to working with the regulator but disagrees with the ICO’s interpretation.”

Nonetheless, Information Commissioner John Edwards says the probe into Reddit is “fairly advanced.”

The debate is unlikely to be settled soon, if Google search is any indication: a News query on reddit and age verification brings up, on the first page, at least four guides on how to safely bypass age verification measures.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric age estimation  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  EU age verification  |  New Zealand  |  Reddit  |  regulation  |  social media  |  UK age verification  |  VerifyMy