This page is about a bill. That means that it's not the law yet, but some people want it to be the law. It could change quickly, and some of the information is just a draft.

Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill

Provider duties - Enforcement

12: Defence for failure to prevent age-restricted user from accessing age-restricted social media platforms

You could also call this:

"It's not the provider's fault if they tried to stop someone too young from using their site but were given wrong information."

Illustration for Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill

If you are a provider, you have a defence if you can prove you relied on information given by an age-restricted user. This means you tried to stop them accessing your social media platform, but they gave you wrong information. You must be able to show you reasonably relied on what they told you.

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This page was last updated on 27 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1536464.

11: Considerations for court, or

"What the court thinks about when a social media provider does something wrong"

13: Rules of civil procedure and civil standard of proof apply, or

"Civil court rules are used in these cases"

Part 2Provider duties
Enforcement

12Defence for failure to prevent age-restricted user from accessing age-restricted social media platforms

It is a defence for a provider to prove that their failure to prevent an age-restricted user from accessing their age-restricted social media platform was due to reasonable reliance on information provided by an age-restricted user.