Survey respondents overwhelmingly said there should be an age restriction. Photo / 123rf
Survey respondents overwhelmingly said there should be an age restriction. Photo / 123rf
A new poll has found many Kiwis support a ban on social media for children.
Last week Australia banned social media for under-16s
Dr Samantha Marsh of Auckland University told the Herald New Zealand parents would welcome a ban.
A majority of Kiwis back putting age restrictions on social media access, a new poll has found.
The Horizon Research survey, which was a collaboration with the University of Auckland, shows 74% of 1511 adults polled say there should be an age limit for accessing social media, with age16 the most popular threshold for respondents.
This comes the same week that Australia passed a landmark social media ban for under-16s, one of the world’s strictest crackdowns – with fines up to A$50 million ($55m) for firms that fail to comply.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he wanted young Australians “off their phones and on to the footy and cricket field, the tennis and netball courts, in the swimming pool”, AFP reported.
The New Zealand poll results come as no surprise to University of Auckland senior research fellow Dr Samantha Marsh who said parents report knowing social media is harmful but often feel they have to let their children use it.
“So many parents have said to me that they would welcome a ban. Kids are more vulnerable to the adverse effects – and they’re more drawn to it.”
University of Auckland senior research fellow Dr Samantha Marsh.
Survey respondents were also asked who should be responsible for ensuring online safety, and more than three-quarters said parents.
Just under 70% also said social media companies, and 56% said the Government.
Some argue social media age limits should be a parental choice but Marsh said most parents don’t feel able to enforce a ban.
“It’s like [a] full-time job almost. Kids are on it for hours and hours a day and then you’ve got disappearing messages and things like that so it’s a really hard behaviour to monitor.”
A blanket rule for all children would make it a lot easier for parents, she said.
“We’ve got really good research telling us social media is harmful, that it’s potentially structurally changing our children’s brains and it’s doing it on a large scale.
“It’s a public health issue which requires regulation like any other harmful product ... like smoking or vaping or alcohol.”
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden told the Herald that creating a legal age limit for social media is not something she is considering implementing in Aotearoa.
“However, I do understand that extensive social media use can be harmful to our children,” she said.
“That’s why the New Zealand Government has banned school students from using mobile phones while attending school. This gives our kids six hours of the day where they are not accessing social media.”
Just under three-quarters of survey respondents shared concerns about children being exposed to inappropriate content, 75% about cyber bullying or harassment, 66% about exposure to sextortion and 69% about mental health impacts.
Five percent had no concerns.
Therapist and online safety advocate Jo Robertson told the Herald exploitation and grooming of children is her chief concern with social media.
“Building relationships online, thinking that those are authentic, being groomed from a young age, distributing sexual content, thinking they’re doing that with somebody that respects them.”
Sex therapist Jo Robertson. Photo / RNZ
However, she acknowledged social media has been positive for some young people.
“They might create friendships, they find people of like-minded hobbies and ways of thinking. So that’s really valid, we don’t want to take that away but I don’t think that has to exist on social media.”
Robertson said it would be naive to think that having an age restriction would take away the risk of children seeing harmful content online, however, they will be less likely to “stumble” across it.
She also urged parents to consider delaying giving their children devices.
The Horizon Research survey was done online, with the total weighted on gender, ethnicity, personal income and 2023 party vote to match the adult population. The survey has a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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