Freedom of Expression and Harms to Diverse Communities
This research explores the views and experiences of New Zealand’s Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian and Muslim communities over the impacts of particular forms of expression, and how well the standards regime serves these communities.
Only a minority of participants feel New Zealand has the right balance between freedom of expression and potential harm. A majority feels freedom of expression needs to be tempered by the need to respect the views of others.
A large majority feel that exposure to offensive, discriminatory or controversial views is a problem, with around half saying they avoid public broadcasts based on the perceived amount of misinformation and inappropriate content.
Social media is the most cited platform for seeing this content (and considered the most harmful) followed by free-to-air television and online news sites.
Participants outline wide-ranging impacts across generations, including normalisation of bad behaviour and stereotypes, damage to communities’ aspirations, feelings of being unsafe or ‘not fitting in’, and harm to people’s confidence, mental health and esteem.
The most common response to experiencing offensive viewpoints is talking to family and friends, followed by making a complaint to the broadcaster, comment online and a complaint to a government body. The Human Rights Commission is the first port of call for most, followed by the BSA.
The BSA will use the findings to inform future decisions and to improve the way we serve diverse communities.
Read the full findings and a media release in several languages highlighting key outtakes here:
Full Report: Freedom of expression and harms impacting diverse communities
Media Release: Half of diverse audiences avoid broadcasts due to experience with harmful content