Archive for October, 2026
The Harmful Harmful Digital Communications Act?
Tuesday, October 20th, 2026I’m a fan of the Harmful Digital Communications Act. We need a quick and accessible remedy when a video of a child being bullied is posted on social media, for example, and the rest of our media law doesn’t provide that. But the HDCA is phrased quite broadly. It’s capable of covering a lot of […]
New Advertising Code
Friday, October 16th, 2026I have sometimes criticised ASA decisions, mostly around political ads, which I think are usually the most important. But remember, these are a tiny fraction of the ASA’s workload. In general, as far as I can tell, they do a pretty good job. Over the years, they have been at pains to provide extensive guidance […]
The future of media regulation in New Zealand?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2026There’s a new media self-regulatory body in town. It’s called the IJC: the Independent Journalist Collective. The founding members are Cameron Slater, David Farrar, Brynn Neilson, Penny Marie and Simon Anderson, or at least their organisations. From a brief look at their websites I detect… a certain similarity in their political leanings. To become members, […]
A funny thing happened on the way to abolishing the BSA…
Monday, October 12th, 2026As you’ll know, the current government has decided to scrap the Broadcasting Standards Authority. This would happen after the election. But last month they introduced a Bill that would do the trick. One little-noticed effect of doing away with the BSA is that it would also subject all broadcasters to the Privacy Act. Under current […]
AI lawsuits?
Thursday, October 8th, 2026Before AI kills us all, or enslaves us like horses, or takes our jobs, or destroys our infrastructure, it’s going to drive us to the courts. I’m a media lawyer and lecturer, and I’ve spent the past few weeks thinking about how AI is going to shake down in my field. You’ve probably already heard […]