Source: PSA
The Minister responsible for online safety must support Labour MP Reuben Davidson’s Online Safety members’ bill launched today if she’s serious about protecting children from online predators and extreme content.
“New Zealanders, including our kids, should be able to go online without being exposed to extreme and harmful material,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“Minister van Velden slashed funding and jobs for the very public workers at DIA’s Digital Safety Team who are working hard to keep kids safe from online predators and other bad actors.
“Now she has a chance to show she actually cares about protecting children by supporting legislation that makes digital platform companies step up and do their part.
“It’s time for the Government to stop expecting our public servants to do more with less and instead make the companies running these platforms take responsibility for the harmful content they host.
“These are the dedicated public servants the Government has been cutting while the problem gets worse. The evidence is clear – online harm is rising and becoming more sophisticated with the explosion of AI.”
DIA told the Minister in November 2023 its Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System had blocked 4.6 million views of child exploitation in the last five years. The Department received 238,000 reports of potential scams to their 7726 service in 2022/23 – that’s ninety times more than in 2019/20.
“The Government promised evidence-based policies,” said Fitzsimons. “Well, the evidence is clear. If Minister van Velden genuinely wants to keep our kids safe from online predators and violence, she will support this bill instead of leaving overstretched public workers to fight this battle with one hand tied behind their backs.
“The Government’s priorities are all wrong – cutting the very services that protect New Zealanders while expecting the same outcomes. It’s another short-sighted decision that puts our children at risk.”
Background: Online Safety (Duties for Providers of Internet-Based Services) Bill. The bill can be downloaded at this link.
PSA statements on DIA cuts to digital safety team
