Retired District Court Judge David Harvey has issued a stark warning about what he calls a dangerous expansion of government and bureaucratic control over online information, describing the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s (BSA) growing reach as “a precursor to mass censorship”.
Speaking on Reality Check Radio, Harvey, a former Mastermind champion and long-time expert in internet law and regulation, said in a recent interview that New Zealand is on the brink of implementing sweeping digital controls under the guise of “online safety” and social media regulation. His comments were recorded before National’s new Member’s Bill on social media restrictions was drawn from the ballot – a development he accurately predicted.
“They will have legislation ready for Christmas that is far, far spookier than the BSA issue,” he said.
Harvey traced the origins of this regulatory momentum to the aftermath of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, which he argues triggered a wave of “overreaching” legislative efforts. These included early drafts of hate speech laws and proposals to regulate digital communications under a central authority.
One such proposal, the 2019 ‘Safer Online Services Bill’, sought to create a single regulatory framework for media and online platforms, enforcing content moderation standards and imposing penalties for “harmful” material. Public backlash led to its shelving in 2024, but Harvey says its core provisions have quietly resurfaced.
“The new online regulation proposals are just the Safer Online Services Bill rehashed,” he said. “And this time, they’re embedding it into a system that connects with digital identification and central bank digital currencies. This is very, very dangerous.”
Harvey warned that mandatory age verification requirements could become the gateway to compulsory biometric data collection – effectively tying every citizen’s online activity to a digital identity framework.
“Age verification means we will all have to provide biometric data to be identified to use the internet,” he said. “Everyone needs the internet – that’s how you onboard an entire population into a control grid.”
According to Harvey, the merging of digital ID systems, online speech regulation, and digital currencies will mark “the beginning of the end of privacy and freedom” in New Zealand.
He urged the public to pay attention and educate themselves before the legislation advances.
This article was originally published by the Daily Telegraph New Zealand.
