Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill

On May 6, 2025, National Party MP Catherine Wedd introduced a member's bill, the Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill, explicitly modeled on Australia's 2024 under-16 law, requiring social-media companies to take all reasonable steps via age verification to prevent under-16s from holding accounts. The bill does not name individual platforms such as Reddit; the responsible minister would designate age-restricted platforms by regulation, so general-purpose platforms like Reddit could fall within scope. It was drawn from the parliamentary ballot in October 2025 and a select-committee inquiry backed an under-16 ban, but in 2026 the Government paused the bill while a wider law change was considered. As of mid-2026 it has not become law.