No legal advice on free speech laws for social media ban, despite $30m Budget commitment
Thursday, 4 June 2026
There has been no legal advice sought on whether restricting social media for under 16-year-olds is consistent with freedom of expression laws, despite the Government committing $30 million in this year’s Budget to developing the ban.
Free Speech Union chief executive Jillian Heather said the union asked the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for the legal advice but was told it did not exist.
'They are committing $30m to a system that decides who can speak online and they have not asked their own lawyers whether it is lawful.”
The Cabinet Manual states when developing policy proposals, consideration must be given to their consistency with domestic human rights legislation and New Zealand's international human rights obligations.
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Education Minister Erica Stanford is adamant appropriate processes are being followed and legal reviews will be part of that as the Government moves forward.
The funding, as noted in the Budget, was subject to future policy decisions, she said. It sits alongside a full-time senior role advertised by DIA in April to help lead the establishment of the first phase of the operational service model for the under‑16 social media restrictions.
The Free Speech Union responded with serious concerns at the time, saying the role confirmed officials were already building the enforcement architecture for the policy before the law had been written.
'The Budget funds the department to explore options. It is not exploring options. It has gone looking for someone to build and run the system, before there is a law to build it under.“
The listing was removed briefly to adjust wording in the job description that was not accurate.
National hopes to introduce legislation closely modelled on Australia’s ban before the November election.
National MP Catherine Wedd’s member’s bill was recently scrapped in favour of Stanford exploring more options than just age restriction to bring to Cabinet.
An age ban does not have the support of ACT, with leader David Seymour signalling the party will use the “agree to disagree” provision when it came to Cabinet.
This would allow a ban to be introduced to Parliament but allow ACT to vote against it, meaning National would likely need Labour’s support to pass the bill.
Labour wants to go much further than just age restriction.
Labour’s Reuben Davidson lodged his own member’s bill which includes establishing an independent regulator to hold social media companies accountable, place rules around deepfake technology and a ban on “nudify” apps.