The high-profile case at the Wellington High Court has come to an early halt after lawyers for Bob Jones, who was suing writer and director Renae Maihi, announced they will no longer continue. Sir Bob Jones was suing Renae Maihi for defamation after she presented a petition to parliament in 2018 to strip Jones of … Read more
With the university campus rapidly becoming a space of conflict, is it possible to remain faithful to academic freedom while at the same time mitigating the most harmful effects of hate speech? Massey University provost Giselle Byrnes discusses. Academic freedom and free speech have been much debated in New Zealand in recent months. Chief among … Read more
The ACT leader has unveiled his ‘Freedom to Speak Bill’. But the case law makes it clear that the laws he seeks to reform are not the terrifying, freedom crushing beasts he has made them out to be, writes Cameron Walker ACT leader, David Seymour, has promised to introduce a “Freedom to Speak” private member’s bill, … Read more
A new study analysing the number of racist versus supportive comments in two large online forums reveals some sobering facts about Māori experiences online. To illustrate the difference in the Māori and Western/Pākehā worldviews about the power of speech, it’s worth looking at two different whakataukī or proverbs. The first is the old adage that … Read more