Articles by Free Speech Union

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 has confirmed that the government’s pandemic response frequently overstepped its bounds and suppressed legitimate dissent. The Free Speech Union says the report proves that the state used censorship as a primary tool to manage the public. "The 'single source of truth' has been exposed as a single source of silence," says Jillaine Heather, CEO of the Free Speech Union. The Commission confirms that…

“The Free Speech Union says our government should be grateful to the Union, and the thousands of New Zealanders who helped persuade our politicians not to pass ‘hate speech’ law, and who stood up for our long proud tradition of not jumping to ban unwelcome arguments and protests. “Last week's UK High Court ruling against the British government’s enforcement of its ban on the activist group Palestine Action again shows the folly of trying to…

The Free Speech Union has written to Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Gerry Brownlee after the @NZParliament account announced today that it "will no longer be posting updates on X," abandoning a platform used by nearly one million New Zealanders in an election year. · X has approximately 933,000 users in New Zealand, representing over 22% of adults. New Zealand ranks first globally for average session time on the platform. Parliament's…

“New Zealand should learn from the problems emerging in Australia's new anti-hate legislation, not seek to replicate them, says the Free Speech Union. "Australia's Parliament passed sweeping new laws in an emergency late-night session with barely three days of public consultation," said Jillaine Heather, Chief Executive of the Free Speech Union. · The Bondi tragedy was horrific and antisemitism is a genuine problem. But when legal experts,…

“The Free Speech Union warns that the United Kingdom's threat to block X entirely over Grok AI failures shows how online safety regulation rapidly escalates from addressing illegal content to silencing entire platforms." “UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed this week that all options are on the table, including blocking X under the Online Safety Act, after Grok AI was used to create child sexual abuse material. Indonesia became the first…