APRIL 12, 2021 Updated 44 seconds ago
media
After 12 years of indecision, government officials have again pushed for more coherent control of the media, including social media.
Internal affairs have indicated the need for a new review of the country’s media content regulatory system.
It would try to create greater regulatory powers to control harmful content on media sites and, in particular, to expand regulation via social media platforms.
Such a review has the potential to rewrite the Broadcasting Standards Act, change the roles of media regulators, and capture social media platforms within the same regulations.
“Our existing regulatory system … fixes damage in a shrinking proportion of media content consumed and offers no protection at all for digital media types that pose the greatest risk of harmful content.”
– Michael Woodside, Home Affairs
The Home Office recognizes that New Zealand media industry regulations predate the Internet.
“Our existing regulatory system is based on a traditional idea of ’analog publishing’ and does not offer the flexibility to respond to many types of digital media,” said Michael Woodside, director of gaming, racing and home affairs.
“As a result, the damage is being repaired in a shrinking proportion of the media content consumed, and no protection is provided at all for the types of digital media that pose the greatest risk of harmful content,” he adds.
“The increase in the potential for New Zealanders to be exposed to harmful content is compounded by the complexity of the piecemeal regulatory system.
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“Existing media regulators have fragmented and incomplete reporting, which has resulted in complicated regulatory arrangements for content across media platforms.”
Such a review would be broader than that of the selection board, which is considering changing the law to filter violent extremist content online. This proposed amendment was introduced in Parliament last year as a discreet solution to streaming the Christchurch terrorist attacks.
While Internal Affairs advised Minister Jan Tinetti on conducting a review, certain issues were not identified. This includes governance agreements, including an agency head. This suggests that there is haggling underway among government agencies over which agency conducts the review and does the heavy lifting.
With ministers calling for a faster pace of reform in areas such as the new public service broadcasting, some government agencies may already feel under pressure.
New Zealand already has a checkered history of media regulation reform. The trend was towards ad hoc updates to existing laws. Efforts to achieve substantial reform have stalled so far.
In 2008, then Broadcasting Minister Trevor Mallard conducted a review of the regulations governing digital broadcasting, which turned into a decade-long mess. A subsequent national minister, Amy Adams, responded with a proposed amendment to the law, then was rejected by another Labor broadcast minister, Clare Curran.
The tremors continued. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage said ministers had indeed agreed to another review of the media content regulation regime in February 2019. It was suspended after the March 2019 terrorist attack and then further delayed while the response to Covid-19 was prioritized.
A ministry spokesman said officials are currently re-examining content regulation. More information would be available in due course.
However, other government officials recognize that media regulations need serious scrutiny – especially from a consumer perspective.
“For example, to file a complaint about harmful content, audiences need to contact different regulators depending on the platform on which the content was viewed,” said Michael Woodside. “This has created confusion for consumers and providers alike, and has resulted in different decisions being made about similar content.
“Inconsistent rating and classification information is confusing for consumers (including parents) and risks inappropriate content experienced by children and vulnerable people.”
There have been no announcements from the beehive ministers, but on the advice of the officials, it will not be long before what is on the drawing board becomes “work in progress”.
Who does what? The short version
Our current media content regulation system includes the 1993 Movies, Videos and Publications Classification Act, the 1989 Broadcasting Act, and voluntary self-regulation (including the New Zealand Media Council and the Advertising Standards Authority).
The Film and Literature Classification Office and the Broadcasting Standards Authority are statutory regulators according to their respective rules.
New Zealand’s media content regulation system uses a combination of classifications and ratings to try to prevent damage from damaging or illegal media content.
The Classification Act is administered by the DIA and is intended to provide a framework for classifying films, videos and publications, as well as clearly identifying and, in some cases, restricting the availability of harmful content. That law allowed the Christchurch terrorist attack video to be classified as objectionable, making it illegal to hold and distribute.
The Broadcasting Act is administered by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. It was developed to create a framework that regulates content that is traditionally broadcast on radio, free-to-air and pay-TV. It also covers certain content that is streamed live over the internet. For example, the legislation covers the 6pm news when viewed as a TV broadcast or via the TVNZ website, but not when accessed via an on-demand service.
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