An unserious solution to a serious problem

“ACT will exercise Agree to Disagree and vote against National’s proposed social media ban,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“I’ve worried about social media’s effect on young people since at least 2018, when I had dinner with Jonathan Haidt. His warnings looked pretty lonely then, but he’s been proven right that social media is having a serious impact on young people.

“That’s why ACT pushed for Parliament to investigate the issue. It’s also why Laura McClure has led work to outlaw deepfake pornography with universal support.

“Protecting children online is a serious problem. Unfortunately, the National Party have hitched their wagon to a terrible solution. The ban they propose won’t work, and the side effects will leave us worse off.

“Teenagers are remarkably good at getting around restrictions on the internet. Any system strong enough to reliably stop them will inevitably start asking a lot more of everybody else.

“Any Government trying to implement a ban faces two basic choices. They can make it so strong that adults are caught up in it, like France where the Government is going back to the drawing board after their top Court struck the law out. Or, they can make the law so weak that is makes little difference, as Australia has found with nearly all children still on social media as if there is no ban.

“This law follows the Australian model, more of a face saver for politicians who promised too much than a serious solution. You only have to look at the bill to see it is a call for ‘best efforts’ even concluding it is more about ‘social norms’ than results.

“The law says the New Zealand Government could fine a company like Meta 10 per cent of their global revenue. That would be $33 billion USD. That would be nice, the New Zealand Government would finally be in surplus, if they’d ever pay.

“That means age checks, identification requirements, and more New Zealanders proving who they are simply to use ordinary parts of the internet.

“ACT predicts a sense of déjà vu, the National Party wanted to ban Paywave fees, but forgot the cost would be passed on to small business. They had to quietly shelve the policy after failing to listen to ACT.

“When they inevitably realist this policy doesn’t work, won’t be the first time they’d come around to an ACT position, only two weeks ago they wanted bed taxes and bank taxes.

“There are other risks too. A ban could push young people away from mainstream platforms and towards darker corners of the internet. It could also make teenagers less willing to talk to parents or teachers about what they see online because they know they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place.

“Before Parliament creates another powerful regulator, imposes widespread online identification, or starts restricting legitimate privacy tools, it should be able to show those measures are necessary and will actually work.

“ACT won’t support a policy just because it sounds tough or polls well. The test should be whether it works, and whether the cure is worse than the disease.”