BSA mysteriously adds Free Speech Union to its hit list, then quietly removes

22 October 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BSA mysteriously adds Free Speech Union to its hit list, then quietly removes

The Free Speech Union is astonished, frankly flabbergasted, to discover that it appeared in the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s (BSA) online list of ‘broadcasters’ in its complaint form. That’s right: the Free Speech Union was listed among the “broadcasters” the public is invited to complain about before mysteriously being removed again this morning, says Jillaine Heather, Chief Executive of the Free Speech Union.

“Apparently, a statutory body can get things done quickly! Last night, the BSA was called out for including us on their ‘hit list’, and this morning, we’re nowhere to be seen. That’s probably because we’re a union, not a broadcaster. Does a podcast, livestreamed events, and some social media activity equate to ‘broadcast’ now?

“When a Wellington agency, already under fire for trying to expand its empire into the online world, mysteriously adds and quietly removes a civil-society organisation to its complaint form, it tells you everything you need to know. Have we rattled them? 

“It’s telling that no other unions appeared in the BSA’s dropdown list, and that many online producers of audio and video content, such as The Platform, Reality Check Radio, Chris Lynch Media, The Working Group with Martyn Bradbury, BHN (DOC Studios), The Dom Harvey Podcast, and Brodie Kane Media, are nowhere to be found. And rightly so – none of these outlets should be on the BSA’s naughty list! So why the picking and choosing? The BSA singled us out because we have the audacity to… stand up for your speech rights?

“Winston Peters compared the BSA’s mindset to the Stasi, and David Seymour, along with MP Todd Stephenson, called them out for their bureaucratic censorship ambitions. We couldn’t agree more. This is an example of extraordinary overreach from public servants who aren’t content with the powers granted to them in their legislation. 

“We again urge the Minister to clean house, or even better, just ‘shut up shop’. We will not stand while bureaucrats decide what speech is acceptable. No matter how many complaint dropdowns they stick our name in, we won’t be stopped in our fight. We do not need ideological commissars.”