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A Tauranga teen is urging the government to set up a youth advisory committee to give the country’s rangatahi more of a say in political decision-making.
Ōtūmoetai College student Liam Howard recently surveyed his peers about the proposed social media ban for under-sixteens, and got almost 600 responses.
The 15-year-old told Checkpoint that about two thirds of respondents opposed the ban.
“They mainly had concerns about losing contact with family and friends, but they were also worried about losing their community, because a lot of people belong to communities that they can’t find – especially in rural areas – when they’re not in particularly safe households, and they find that refuge online.”
He personally spent about two hours a day on social media platforms like TikTok, and had himself been exposed to content he’d rather not have seen.
“Once this is introduced it’s going to be very hard to change, and that’s why we need to make sure that it actually will help youth rather than giving them an even worse situation where they can’t talk to anyone about the problems they face when they do get on to social media,” he said.
The current proposal “was just giving the companies leeway out of their responsibilities to manage their algorithms properly”, he told Checkpoint.
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Companies needed to ensure they were not showing predatory content, “whether that be this manosphere that’s been happening online, or content that’s giving them anxiety or hurting their self-confidence”, he said.
Howard said a youth advisory committee could work by surveying students to discover their views.
“We need the actual data to make an informed response, we can’t just base it on opinions.”
Initially, he believed the committee should focus on the proposed social media ban. There was potential for expanding it to address other legislation if it went well though, he said.
It would be difficult to set up a committee with non-partisan members, so Howard suggested it be made up of people with views from across the political spectrum.
That would help the nation’s youth feel like politicians were actually listening, he said.
“I don’t think this government has been particularly responsive to students.
“[Education Minister] Erica Stanford says she talked to 13 students – that’s not enough. I’ve talked to 600, they’ve told me the truth,” he said.
At the end of July, Stanford posted on social media, saying she had “invited 13 students from across Auckland to sit down with me and share their experiences of social media and online harm”.
National and Labour back proposal
National has indicated it will move forward with its proposed ban on social media for under-sixteens.
Current coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First will not support the bill, while Labour had said it will support it.
In August, Stanford said the bill would bring New Zealand into line with other countries that were placing greater responsibility on tech companies to protect children online.
“The bill places legal obligations on platforms. No penalties are proposed for children, their parents or caregivers,” Stanford said.
“It doesn’t just introduce a minimum age requirement. It creates an enduring framework that can evolve alongside technology and holds platforms responsible for understanding and reducing the risks they create for children.”
National does not expect the bill to have its first reading before the end of this Parliamentary term, however.
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