BSA power grab: Radical bureaucrats move to police online speech

ACT MP Laura McClure says today’s Broadcasting Standards Authority ruling shows a regulator scrambling to stay relevant by grabbing power it was never meant to have.

McClure is the sponsor of the Broadcasting (Disestablishment of Broadcasting Standards Authority) Amendment Bill.

“The BSA has taken a law written for rabbit-ear TV and tried to stretch it over podcasts and livestreams on the internet. That’s not credible, and Kiwis won’t buy it. This decision makes it clear the BSA isn’t just out of date, it’s out of control.

“The Authority is now claiming the internet counts as ‘broadcasting’. By that logic, anything online could be dragged into its net. That should concern anyone who values free speech.

“Kiwis already vote with their feet. If you don’t like something, you switch it off. We don’t need a panel in Wellington deciding what people are allowed to hear.

“What we’re seeing is a bureaucratic empire trying to expand because it knows its original job has disappeared.

“The BSA openly says its role is to limit speech. Extending that mindset to the internet is a huge step in the wrong direction.

“We already have laws for real harm like defamation and incitement. We do not need a taxpayer-funded taste police for online content.

“Taxpayers and media are footing the bill for a regulator that no longer serves a purpose.

“Millions in public money, plus levies on media outlets, all to fund a body now trying to regulate the internet. It’s hard to think of a clearer example of waste.

“This is exactly why I’ve lodged a bill to scrap the BSA, and today I'm writing to the Broadcasting Minister urging him to adopt it as Government legislation.

"The answer to a regulator that’s outlived its usefulness isn’t to give it more power. It’s to shut it down."