Budget 2026: Funding of $30.7 million for social media ban

Friday, 29 May 2026

The Government has set aside $30.75m of funding in this year’s Budget to develop proposals for its social media ban policy.

It will develop policy and possible regulatory options to improve children’s online safety across four years, subject to future policy and funding decisions.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is already hiring staff to help work on the policy, with a full-time senior role job advertised in April to help lead the delivery of the ban, despite the law not yet being written.

Cracking down on social media for young people has been a desire of the National Party, with Education Minister Erica Stanford promising it is on track for a ban to be in place for under 16s before the election.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was “deeply supportive” of a ban, with Stanford asked to investigate options beyond just a ban.

The fate of the ban could be in Labour’s hands, with coalition partner David Seymour signalling his ACT party may use the “agree to disagree” provision to oppose the ban.

Labour wants to go much further than a simple age limit.

Both National and Labour have signalled support for recommendations from a formal select committee inquiry, which included banning VPNs used to evade restrictions, as well as “nudify” apps and non-consensual deep-fake sexual imagery.

Other recommendations include establishing a national regulator for online safety, increasing platforms’ liability for the content they host and restricting online advertising of alcohol, tobacco, and gambling - to over-18s.