Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Urgent Interim Classification of Publications and Prevention of Online Harm) Amendment Bill

I present a legislative statement on the Films, Videos, and Publications (Urgent Interim Classification of Publications and Prevention of Online Harm) Amendment Bill to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I’m just going to ask the member to say that motion again, please, from the beginning.

I present a legislative statement on the Films, Videos, and Publications (Urgent Interim Classification of Publications and Prevention of Online Harm) Amendment Bill to the House.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

I move that the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Urgent Interim Classifications and Prevention of Online Harm) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

This bill—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! With apologies to the Minister.

Have I got it wrong, Madam Speaker?

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Can I invite the Minister—[Passes paper to the Hon Jan Tinetti] In fact, I will need it back, but—

💬 Chris Bishop: Oh, come on.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): I don’t need any assistance, thank you, from that member.

It’s such a long title, Madam Speaker. Ha, ha!

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Is the Minister there yet with—

So what were the words that were missing, Madam Speaker? It’s such a long title. So Madam Speaker, do you want me to start that again?

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The Hon Jan Tinetti—“I move”.

OK. I present a legislative statement—

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! Order! The motion—“I move”.

Sorry, Madam Speaker. I move, That the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification (Urgent Interim Classification of Publications and Prevention of Online Harm) be now read a third time.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): “Amendment Bill” be now read a third time.

OK. Thank you, Madam Speaker. You can see that we’ve struggled with this title the whole way through this bill, and I will say that every single member in this House in the second reading has had exactly the same issue, and I think it even made it to RNZ’s The House, because the title is so long.

💬 Chris Bishop: I think this one’s coming too.

I think you might be right, Mr Bishop.

This bill’s objective is to ensure that Government, internet service providers, and online content hosts can swiftly and consistently take action against objectionable material—that is the worst type of material that is already illegal in New Zealand—by updating the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, and, as I pointed out in the committee of the whole House, that’s what this very long titled bill will fold into after this bill goes through its third reading.

I’ve already spoken extensively in the House about the importance of this bill and the changes it will implement to keep New Zealanders safe online, so my third and final speech on this bill is going to be quite brief. Material that is considered objectionable in New Zealand includes child exploitation material and violent extremism or terrorism content. We know that viewing objectionable content can be extremely harmful and distressing, regardless of whether or not viewing the content was intentional or forewarned. Sadly, this is what we saw as the horrific events of the March 15 terror attacks in Christchurch unfolded as they were live streamed. In the days that followed, thousands of links to the video of the live stream appeared on social media. More than 6,000 people contacted the national mental health centre in the days that followed of the attacks, showing the trauma that those who witnessed the video—the trauma and harm that it caused to them.

This tragedy starkly highlighted the gaps and inefficiencies in our current classification Act and how important it is for the Government to have the right tools to stop such content from being uploaded and spread. The bill addresses this by making it a criminal offence to knowingly live stream objectionable content. It enables the chief censor to make interim classification assessments in urgent situations for content that is likely to be objectionable, which means that enforcement agencies and online content hosts will have the legal certainty they need to move faster and remove objectionable content.

The bill also enables authorised inspectors to issue takedown notices for online content hosts to remove objectionable material on their sites, which gives officials the tools required to combat the posting of this content. Finally, the bill will close a loophole by ensuring the safe harbour provisions in the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 will not apply to objectionable material online. This bill is important as it will allow the Government to act swiftly if future such incidents occur. It will mean New Zealanders can be better protected from the harms that we know viewing this type of content can cause.

Before I conclude, I’d like to acknowledge the former Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon Tracey Martin, for her work of instigating this bill. I’d also like to once again give my huge amount of appreciation to the Governance and Administration Committee and to all the individuals and groups who took the time to submit on the bill. Their careful consideration and valuable recommendations on this bill have led to its improvement.

I would also like to thank the Department of Internal Affairs and the officials that were involved in the work on this bill. It was important work and they worked tirelessly to get it to this stage. For the final time, I am pleased to commend this bill to the House.

Debate interrupted.