Coroner wants internet restrictions, after teen dies imitating online acts

A coroner is urging internet restrictions after a teenager died imitating online acts. Photo / Getty Images

By RNZ

A coroner is calling for restrictions on the internet, after a teenager accidentally died while imitating acts he saw online.

An inquest by Coroner Michael Robb found the Bay of Plenty teen had become interested in violent pornography and had made “troubling” internet searches the day before his death in 2024.

He was found dead, after disappearing overnight, and Coroner Robb believed he had attempted to imitate what he had seen on the internet.

“I consider he [was] in some way endeavouring to mirror what he had seen in the internet searches in some kind of experimental or exploration context,” his report said.

The coroner referenced Australia’s recent decision to ban children under 16 from accessing social media platforms and that the New Zealand Government was discussing a similar bill.

“It does not appear to have been his accessing or ability to access social media platforms, but rather the open access to the internet that is available to any person, child or adult, who has access to any internet-enabled device.”

Coroner Robb said the teen’s death “highlights the need for internet access restrictions being imposed, where a youth might access the internet” and that parental controls on residential modems didn’t go far enough.

“While controls can be applied to the device, the risk remains that tech-savvy youth can work around this.

“I acknowledge it can be difficult to imagine what the potential harms are, what might be searched, what might spark interest in the young, but in my view, [the teenager’s] avoidable death represents an example of the dangers of open internet access.

“It represents the reality that the consequences can ultimately lead to the preventable loss of a young life.”