Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced intentions to raise the minimum age for social media access beyond 13 for platforms that lack sufficient child safety measures. He spoke on Aug 23 at the National Day Rally about the need to protect youth from addictive social media features, saying, "These features are hard enough for adults to resist - for teenagers, the risks are greater." Wong added, "If its safeguards remain inadequate, we will consider additional restrictions - including raising the minimum age for access to that platform beyond 13." Currently, platforms in Singapore rely on users’ self-declared ages, a method deemed ineffective, prompting calls for stronger age verification methods [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
A 2023 study by Singapore’s National Council of Social Service found that one in six youths aged 10 to 24 showed signs of problematic social media use, underscoring concerns about youth exposure and engagement with such platforms [1, 3, 4, 5].
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced plans on Aug 24 to introduce the Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill. The bill seeks to ban children under 16 from accessing high-risk social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and X. Platforms would be required to verify user ages using existing account data, facial recognition, digital ID, or formal identification. Non-compliance could result in fines up to 10% of a platform’s global revenue. Luxon said, "We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children." [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
New Zealand Education Minister Erica Stanford emphasized government support for parents, stating, "Parents are doing their best, but they shouldn’t be expected to take on the world’s biggest technology companies alone." She added the bill does not propose penalties for children or caregivers [12]. However, the legislation faces opposition from two coalition partners, the New Zealand First and ACT parties. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called the legislation a "colossal failure" in Australia and argued that responsibility for keeping children off social media lies with parents, not government [7, 9, 11, 12]. Australia implemented a similar social media ban for under-16s in December 2025, which New Zealand is following [6, 7, 10, 11].
A 2023 survey found 33% of New Zealand children aged 13 to 17 spend at least five hours daily on social media, adding urgency to concerns about risks to young users [6, 10]. The legislation’s introduction marks a significant step in tightening online safety regulations in the region.
The New Zealand bill is expected to proceed through parliamentary debate in the coming weeks, with the government aiming to pass the law swiftly to address mounting concerns about youth social media harms [6, 7, 12].
