Kiwi parents would support similar social media ban to Australia's - expert

A senior researcher says she believes New Zealand is open to a social media ban for children, similar to what has just passed in Australia.

In world-first legislation, a bill passed last night in the Australian Senate that aims to keep kids off platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

It will not take effect for a year as consultation about how it will work has to happen with social media companies.

University of Auckland senior research fellow Samantha Marsh has been advocating for a similar ban in New Zealand, and is the spokesperson for the group Before 18.

She told Morning Report the most significant harms for young people using social media concerned their wellbeing and mental health.

Its negative effects included: increased anxiety and depression, reduced self-esteem, reduced life satisfaction, cutting down on sleep, and affecting their ability to pay attention "which is obviously really important for academic outcomes".

"So there's quite a broad range of negative outcomes that social media has been associated with," Marsh said.

She was confident New Zealand would be open to introducing a similar ban, but would probably want to see how it played out in Australia.

"I think it's important that we remember, that in New Zealand from recent research we've done, families are very supportive of this."

Only 18 percent of those surveyed did not support it.

"That's a strong message that needs to come from parents, from the grassroots."

Marsh has not spoken to any politicians about a potential ban but believed some were open to it and would support it.

She said a lot of countries were considering similar moves to what Australia has embarked on.

It would take a year to work things out and while it was not expected to be 100 percent effective, it would send "a clear message" from the government that it was acknowledging the research that consistently showed harm to youngsters.

"And it's empowering for parents cos we know parents are giving their kids social media. They don't want to give it to them, but they're doing it because they don't want their kids to be socially isolated and I think that really needs to shift."

Some research had shown that marginalised communities found social media was good for them, but research also established those same communities were more likely to be exposed to harmful content.

"This is just a first step and I think there'll be a lot of work that needs to go into supporting those communities and making sure there are other ways to help them connect in the future."