In quitting the social media giant, Stuff has taken a risk. But the gamble is not as big as it may seem, writes Hal Crawford. Ceasing all activity on Facebook is a bold move for a news publisher, and I’m not surprised that it has come from the company now owned and run by Sinead … Read more
The biggest news site in New Zealand, and the country’s fifth biggest site overall, Stuff has embarked on an experiment in dropping the use of Facebook and Instagram. It has been launched ‘in the context of the international Boycott Facebook movement’, according to a memo leaked to The Spinoff. A leaked internal communication from Stuff’s … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Failings around Covid-positive visitors who were allowed to travel, massive new report on health reform unveiled, and police executive redesign proposed. There are two new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, breaking a long streak of zero days. Our live updates page from yesterday has the details of … Read more
Facebook has unveiled tougher rules to control political content posted on its main platform and Instagram in the months before the September election, reports Justin Giovannetti. As of next month only New Zealanders who have provided Facebook with a form of government-issued identification will be able to post ads that make references to political figures, … Read more
With more than 151,000 members, Wellington’s Vic Deals is one of the largest community Facebook groups in New Zealand. But in the last few days, the group’s team of administrators have landed itself in hot water after being accused of censoring content related to racism, colonisation, and Black Lives Matter. How did this all start? … Read more
With half a million members, the New Zealand Made Products Facebook group has become a national phenomenon, thrusting small-time businesses into the national gaze. But what makes a post stand out among thousands of others? When scrolling through the seemingly endless visual extravaganza that is the New Zealand Made Products Facebook page, you’re likely to … Read more
Fear and vulnerability, plus plenty of spare time to head down internet rabbitholes, means fake conspiracy theories are seeing the light more than ever. Here are some simple steps you can take to combat them. Right now, in Aotearoa and the world, we’re seeing an increase in conspiracy theories, and sometimes, real-world damage because some people … Read more
Last week, an inaccurate tweet about suicide spread so far that both the Ministry of Health and the Mental Health Foundation had to respond. Hayden Donnell looks at what happened, and how the government could prevent a repeat. Warning: this story contains discussion of suicide On Sunday, the Ministry of Health and the Mental Health … Read more
Holding Facebook and Google to account might be a great idea in theory, but the proposed code is based on false assumptions, writes Australian ex-MediaWorks news boss Hal Crawford. A couple of weeks ago, the Australian government announced that it was going make Facebook and Google pay news companies for the news content they “used … Read more
Social media remains fertile ground for con artists as promoted tweets rip off the broadcaster’s image in a bitcoin swindle. It’s not unusual for New Zealand Twitter users to encounter the face of Mike Hosking as they scroll through their streams, but this morning, it hasn’t just been the usual of links to op-eds, uproar … Read more
Social media giant Facebook has banned a large number of trusted media outlets for posting ‘inappropriate content’. See update at the foot. The Spinoff has seen all current Facebook links removed from feeds, tagged as ‘inappropriate content’ or violating ‘community standards’, at the height of the Covid-19 epidemic. This appears to be impacting news organisations worldwide, … Read more
Some New Zealand parties have signed up. Others are still deciding. But if they don’t, should you trust them at all, asks Cate Owen. You shouldn’t just care that political parties are buying digital ads, you should treat any party that won’t sign up to Facebook’s political ad transparency measures with suspicion. Why? Because digital … Read more
Summer reissue: I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking. This post was first published 14 January, 2019. “Hey, what are you up to tonight?” “Is that your boyfriend?” It’s … Read more
Summer reissue: Uber became one of the biggest companies in the world in a few short years. Duncan Greive reviews Mike Isaac’s extraordinary Super Pumped, which shows the world just what it sacrificed for cheap rides. First published 29 September, 2019. There are so many stories in Super Pumped, a riveting new account of the … Read more
Looking back on 10 years which saw New Zealand’s media transform from a position of near-limitless power and influence to the deeply humbled reality of today. At the end of 2009 I had resigned from my first good job, convinced that print media was finished. The good job was as editor of Real Groove, a … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National promises heavy crackdown on gangs, combined announcement puts ECE pressure on govt, and Samoa measles outbreak gets worse. National have set clear daylight between themselves and the government in their latest policy discussion document. The law and order policies are aimed at creating an overall … Read more
Where do we watch content, what do we want from it, and how do we view New Zealand news? Here’s what we learned from NZ On Air’s latest survey on identity, culture and the media. We still like to watch free-to-view TV Despite the lingering doom and gloom around linear television, almost three-quarters of respondents … Read more
Online commenters have had an absolute field day with Chlöe Swarbrick’s parliamentary riposte. Here’s our high-level analysis. A lot of people had a lot to say about Chlöe Swarbrick’s “OK boomer” retort in parliament last week. While to some she’s a “hero politician” who “clapped back” at her colleague by employing a “devastating” putdown, others … Read more
There is a profound asymmetry in the power dynamic between offshore tech companies like Google, Facebook and Viagogo and a domestic regulator in a country like New Zealand. But that doesn’t render us impotent, argues the privacy commissioner, John Edwards Last year in Auckland, a young English backpacker, Grace Millane hooked up with a man … Read more
Uber became one of the biggest companies in the world in a few short years. Duncan Greive reviews Mike Isaac’s extraordinary Super Pumped, which shows the world just what it sacrificed for cheap rides. There are so many stories in Super Pumped, a riveting new account of the rise of Uber, which seem to capture … Read more
Charles Adler has made a career out of believing in the power and generosity of people to solve big problems. The co-founder of Kickstarter is coming to the Future of the Future conference next month and explains why he doesn’t think we have to worry about what is around the corner. Charles Adler is an … Read more
Don Rowe speaks to the founder of a new chatbot connecting tenants with the rental information they need. In a world where Facebook is culpable in genocides, sham elections and the corrosion of trust in the media, it’s nice to know it can be used for good, too. Rentbot is a new chatbot from Citizen … Read more
Not calling it ‘Facebucks’ might be a lost opportunity but the giant social media platform’s new form of money could offer benefits to New Zealanders, writes Aaron McDonald. Facebook’s foray into cryptocurrency has a lot of people shaking their heads in unequal parts of confusion, disbelief and misunderstanding. Blockchain is an emerging technology, one that … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Quiet fight over Central Otago mine roars into the headlines, Christchurch call summit gets agreement signed, and allegations made of widespread Uni cheating. This story has been building for a long time, but coverage has stepped up significantly in the past month, so it’s worth covering … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Indifference from major players looms over Christchurch call summit, big changes coming for NCEA, and Peters savages Fonterra’s decision to sell Tip-Top. The Prime Minister is in the spotlight at the Christchurch Call summit on stopping extremism spreading on social media in Paris. It comes at an … Read more
What is Wish? Is it legit? And why does it advertise so damn much? “If Wish targeted ads are a window to your soul, then my soul is an absolute nightmare,” food editor Alice Neville quipped in the office one day. On Facebook, she’d received ads for a severed ‘finger’, a gimp suit, a wig-beard, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Destiny Church rejected for prison rehab programme, Kāpiti Council sends sea level message to homeowners, and funding boost to solve Census snafu. Corrections minister Kelvin Davis has ruled out working with Destiny Church’s Man Up programme in prisons, reports Newsroom. Destiny says the programme can help turn lives … Read more
Jacinda Ardern will head to Paris next month to co-host a forum devoted to an accord on ‘eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online’. What could such a pledge look like, and what could it usefully achieve, asks Jordan Carter of InternetNZ. Jacinda Ardern this morning announced that New Zealand and France are working together … Read more
The livestreamed atrocity in Christchurch has put into sharp focus the pernicious potential of online media, and the ways that misinformation can erode democracy. Russell Brown explains Four weeks on, it has expressed the best of us. And the worst of us. On the one hand, social media has provided a valuable platform for public grieving. It … Read more