ACT claims victory for free speech as Government finally scraps BSA

ACT MP Laura McClure says the Government’s decision to disestablish the Broadcasting Standards Authority is a massive win for free speech.

McClure lodged a member's bill to abolish the BSA in November.

"Last year, radical bureaucrats at the BSA actively expanded their empire to police the internet," says McClure.

"It shouldn't have taken an ACT Member's Bill to force action, but I am glad the Minister has listened to New Zealanders' outrage.

"Last year, the BSA made a blatant power grab, trying to stretch a law written for rabbit-ear TVs over podcasts and livestreams. They openly admitted their role was to limit speech.

"ACT called it out immediately. I lodged a Member’s Bill to scrap the BSA entirely, and today the Government has finally caught up and adopted our approach.

"Kiwis no longer rely on a handful of TV channels. They choose what they watch and listen to from a vast range of platforms. If you don’t like something, you switch it off. We don’t need a taxpayer-funded taste police in Wellington deciding what people are allowed to hear.

"We already have laws for real harm like defamation and incitement. What we don't need is millions in public money, plus levies on struggling media outlets, funding an outdated bureaucracy that was trying to control the modern media landscape.

"This is exactly what ACT brings to Government: identifying rules that no longer make sense, calling them out, and shutting them down when they threaten New Zealanders' freedoms."