Labour leader Chris Hipkins says his MPs back an under-16s social media ban and will give National's version of the legislation the votes to pass a first reading in Parliament.
The decision, made by Labour's caucus today, is a shift in the bill's fortunes after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday it would not reach a vote before Parliament rises, with both ACT and NZ First against it.
Labour said today it wanted a greatly improved version of National's legislation "implemented" by the next government after the election.
“With Labour’s support, there is no reason for the Government to delay the bill and we expect to see it in through its first reading before the election," Hipkins said today.
The Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill, introduced to Parliament on Monday, would require platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to take reasonable steps to check that users are over 16.
Hipkins said he had written to Education Minister Erica Stanford conveying Labour's support and urging the Government to move quickly.
"We will give them the numbers to pass the bill through its first reading before the election, so that the process can get underway and the new government after the election can get the bill implemented," he told media.
"The bill undoubtedly can use improvement, but I'm not going to let a quest for perfection, though, delay progress.
"We think through the select committee process there will be significant improvements that could be made to the bill.
"The sooner we get that underway, the sooner that can happen."
Australia became the first country to introduce a ban eight months ago. (Source: 1News)
Passing a first reading - the first of three votes a bill must clear in Parliament - would send the legislation to a select committee, where the public can then make submissions and MPs can recommend substantial changes.
Supporting a bill at first reading does not commit a party to voting for it at later stages.
Labour's technology spokesperson Reuben Davidson, who has worked across the details of the bill, flagged concerns about its focus.
"There are some concerns around the impetus being purely on age restriction, and there's really a need to have a more regulatory approach," he said.
Davidson said there needed to be a greater focus on the independent regulator proposed under the bill and "safety by design" for young people.
He said in a media release: "The bill is not perfect and undoubtedly can be improved. We particularly want to make sure the proposed safety nets don’t do more harm than good."
Labour had previously withheld its support, and in a letter last week set out matters it wanted addressed first, including access to key assessments of the draft bill and answers to 79 questions about the legislation.
Children's Commissioner pushes for their voices to be heard as the Govt commits to bringing the ban into law. (Source: 1News)
Speaking yesterday, Luxon said he had no support from coalition partners and the legislation would not reach its first reading before Parliament rises for the election.
"We've got 11 days to go. We've got a big legislative agenda. The reality is, we're not going to get through to first reading," the Prime Minister told media.
"We'll pick this up on the other side of the election."
Both of National's coalition partners came out against the bill within minutes of its announcement on Monday.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said his party would "never support this", warning of the "direction and slippery slope that legislation like this will inevitably take our country".
ACT leader David Seymour said his party would exercise its "agree to disagree" provision and vote against the ban.
"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," Seymour said.
The Greens have also previously voiced scepticism about a social media ban.
A range of digital services are excluded from the under-16s rule, including Discord, WhatsApp, Roblox, Spotify, LinkedIn, and AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.
Services used mainly for messaging, email, voice or video calling are out of scope, as are online multiplayer games, music and podcast services, and professional networking sites.
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