Yesterday the Department of Internal Affairs released a consultation document on proposed changes to our censorship regime. This is a review of New Zealand’s regulatory system for media and online platforms. It proposes a major shift in how media and online platforms allow you to express yourself openly. – The
If there’s one thing that tyrants have always dreaded, it’s mockery. “Every joke is a tiny revolution,” as Orwell said. The Nazis launched a full-scale diplomatic offensive against a Finn whose dog mimicked the Heil Hitler salute. Sergei Popovich spent ten years in the Gulag for telling six
As the new miniseries White House Plumbers shows, the reaction of the Nixon administration to the Pentagon Papers was to turn the Deep State apparatus onto leaker Daniel Ellsberg. But the comical, Keystone Kops misadventures of Hunt, Liddy and co were nothing compared to the dark machinations of the Obama
There is no free speech without hate speech. That is a simple fact. That doesn’t mean we have to like genuine hate speech – even if anyone could accurately define it – or even listen to it. But banning free speech is worse than any hate speech you can name. As
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science nzdsos.com The World Health Organization (WHO) are hosting the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva from 21 to 30 May 2023, during which time they are also celebrating their 75th anniversary. Three main issues are on the agenda this year, all of
Bruce Logan familyfirst.org.nz Bruce Logan is a board member of Family First NZ. He was also a founding director of The Maxim Institute The British philosopher Roger Scruton has claimed, “the first move the totalitarian mentality makes is to stop free-minded, open scholarship in pursuit of truth”. Right
The Oxford Union has hosted Holocaust deniers, terrorists, murderers, Nazi appeasers, neo-Nazis, black supremacists, communists, porn stars… but women who deny that men can be women are beyond the pale. Apparently they have to draw the line somewhere — and women who assert biological facts are it. In its 200-year history
Reem Alsalem Reem Alsalem is the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences. The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts
As recently reported by The BFD, Freedom of Information requests in New Zealand have revealed that “the government […] censorship is extending to its own regulators and […] even its lawyers”. “Hold my booster,” says the Australian government. In less than three years the federal government intervened at least 4213 times to
When Planet of the Apes’ displaced astronaut, Taylor, begs for an answer to the mystery of just what planet he’s landed on, wise monkey Dr Zaius warns him: Don’t look for it, Taylor. You may not like what you find. When he saw the Statue of Liberty in
Kurt Mahlburg mercatornet.com Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. Since 2018, Kurt has been the Research and Features Editor at the Canberra Declaration. He is also a freelance writer, and a regular contributor at the Spectator Australia,
Andrew Torba CEO, Gab.com news.gab.com Recent events involving Twitter and Elon Musk complying with the Turkish government’s request to censor political content during their elections have raised concerns about the potential consequences for free speech. Late Friday evening Twitter released a statement noting “In response to
NewZealandDoc newzealanddoc.substack.com Philadelphia-born psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and author who emigrated to New Zealand in 2006. He retired from psychiatric practice in 2021, refusing to be inoculated, after working in the public sector in New Zealand. There is an old joke that goes something like this: “Why do Baptists forbid
Holly Baines freetobechurch.nz A guest post from Holly Baines explaining the work of Free To Be Church in New Zealand and how Christian Concern encouraged them to stand for the freedom to worship. In 2020 the world stood still. Covid swept the globe, leaving in its wake unprecedented governmental
Nicholas Fondacaro newsbusters.org Nick grew up in East Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. He graduated from Binghamton University in 2013 with a degree in Political Science. While at Binghamton he served as the Speaker of the Student Assembly and wrote for the Binghamton Review, where his love for journalism started. After graduating,
David Thunder mercatornet.com David Thunder is a researcher and lecturer at the University of Navarra’s Institute for Culture and Society. Dáil Eireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament, has just passed the most radical hate speech law in the history of the Irish State, a law so
