Luxon speaks to the media after announcing plan to restrict social media for under-16s
The Government is making work on restrictions to social media for New Zealanders under the age of 16 part of its official programme.
Video / NZ Herald
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The Government is making work on restrictions to social media for New Zealanders under the age of 16 part of its official programme.
Video / NZ Herald
NOW PLAYING • Luxon speaks to the media after announcing plan to restrict social media for under-16s
The Government is making work on restrictions to social media for New Zealanders under the age of 16 part of its official programme.
Video / NZ Herald
Spark’s new ‘Kids Plan’ offers parental controls but won’t fully prevent access to harmful content.
B416 co-chairwoman Anna Curzon praised the plan but said she would like to see it go further.
Netsafe’s Sean Lyons supported the plan but acknowledged it wasn’t a complete solution for online safety.
A new mobile phone plan from Spark specifically for children will not stop kids from accessing harmful content online, but it is a good first step, an advocate says.
The telecommunications company today said its mooted ‘Kids Plan’ could be added to a parent’s account for full oversight ofit and its usage, would be barred from getting promotional marketing texts, and would stop children from buying plan add-ons.
Parents will also be able to decide how much mobile data is allocated to the child and when, and control whether data top-ups are added or not. Spark said the maximum 2GB data would not allow children “high levels of online or social media use” but would be suitable for using things like public transport applications.
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“It’s so great to see the signals from telcos like Spark to really help parents, but we continue to advocate for an age restriction for social media before 16, just to ensure our kids are protected from these harmful algorithms,” Curzon said.
“I think it’s great that they’ve really tried to limit the usage of data, however, kids will be able to go and use WiFi. And with the data they do have, there’s still the opportunity to see harmful content.”
Online safety organisation Netsafe told the Herald it had supported Spark in developing the new mobile plan after the telco approached it over a year ago.
Netsafe’s chief online safety officer Sean Lyons agreed with Curzon, saying Netsafe was very supportive of it but acknowledged it would not be a panacea.
“Unfortunately, with so many things in online safety, there are no single silver bullets. We don’t have at our disposal the kind of panacea-like tools that will fix everything,” Lyons said.
“So I think what Spark is doing here is trying to help parents to understand some of the difficulties that young people experience online ... and trying to provide them with some tools to help them deal with those and be better informed.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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