Ensure InternetNZ respects free speech with us

Some may be content to call their opponents names and fight against their every move (constantly on the defense). But the Free Speech Union has always wanted more than that. 

Rather than letting our opponents forever have us on the backfoot, we work to ‘take the fight to the institutions’, and force them to defend the censorship and imposition they insist on. 

That’s exactly what we’ve done with InternetNZ, an important organisation that has a crucial role to play. In our day and age, speech rights are near meaningless if it doesn’t include online speech. 

InternetNZ proposed a new constitution for the organisation off the back of declaring itself ‘institutionally racist’ (in part because it refused to take down a website some found offensive and racist). We saw that this would open doors to all sorts of content being subjected to scrutiny by an organisation who has no right or role to decide what’s on the internet.

We have always been entirely consistent. Death threats or incitement to violence are not protected by speech rights - they are the antithesis of what free speech exists to achieve. And we not only accept, but endorse, legal standards that would stop someone threatening credible harm online. 

But you and I both know that’s not what InternetNZ are talking about… we already have laws against bright lines where individuals face threats against their physical safety. It’s not InternetNZ’s role to expand their remit to ensure the technical and intellectual leadership of Kiwis’ access to the online world is ‘managed’ to ensure they are kept ‘safe’. 

So we asked you to join us in pursuing a different path, on behalf of all Kiwis, to ensure that a free, open internet, is available to all Kiwis (regardless of whether you opinions are popular or not).

Thousands of you answered the call, and now we have the ability to not only turn back this bad constitution, but to appoint two members to the InternetNZ board for three years, so that we can keep up the case for all Kiwis’ most fundamental right. 

The InternetNZ AGM will be held on 31st July. That is the day the votes will be counted and the results announced. Voting starts on 14th July and runs until the 29th July, so make sure you list your preferences before voting closes.

Jonathan Ayling, our Chief Executive, and Douglas Brown, a Canterbury-based lawyer who sits on the Free Speech Union Council are stepping up to speak out for your right to speak up.

The Free Speech Union is not trying to take over important institutions so that we can impose our view of the world on others… in fact, it’s the exact opposite. We’re fighting for intellectual diversity, the right for people with different belief and perspectives on contested and controversial issues to still have a right to participate.

Certain changes in the InternetNZ constitution threaten to undo exactly this. That’s why we are working to revert to the old constitution and ensure InternetNZ stays in its (important) lane, and builds democratic principles and speech rights into the heart of what they do.  

Jonathan and Douglas don’t agree on everything (that’s the understatement of the century. 😂). But what they certainly agree on is that a free and open internet is crucial for the future of our democracy, and that questions about where the lines should be drawn around ‘harm’ are for our representatives to decide on (in Parliament), not the board table of an organisation that, while it does important work, most people haven’t heard of. 

Below, I outline the process for voting in this election. You can only participate if you answered our call to be a member prior to April 30th. Hundreds and hundreds of you have told us you’ve signed up - I also suspect some of you did it, and we aren’t aware. That’s why we’re contacting everyone so they know about this important project.

The Free Speech Union is not trying to take over important institutions so that we can impose our view of the world on others… in fact, it’s the exact opposite. We’re fighting for intellectual diversity, the right for people with different belief and perspectives on contested and controversial issues to still have a right to participate.

Certain changes in the InternetNZ constitution threaten to undo exactly this. That’s why we are working to revert to the old constitution and ensure InternetNZ stays in its (important) lane, and builds democratic principles and speech rights into the heart of what they do.  

Jonathan and Douglas don’t agree on everything (that’s the understatement of the century. 😂). But what they certainly agree on is that a free and open internet is crucial for the future of our democracy, and that questions about where the lines should be drawn around ‘harm’ are for our representatives to decide on (in Parliament), not the board table of an organisation that, while it does important work, most people haven’t heard of. 

Below, I outline the process for voting in this election. You can only participate if you answered our call to be a member prior to April 30th. Hundreds and hundreds of you have told us you’ve signed up - I also suspect some of you did it, and we aren’t aware. That’s why we’re contacting everyone so they know about this important project.

Jillaine Heather | FSU Council Member

1. The InternetNZ Board election uses a preferential, proportional voting system (STV-style) where members rank candidates and votes are redistributed until all seats are filled.
2. Two seats are open at the upcoming AGM. While past elections have seen low turnout, this year’s vote has received unusual public attention and may attract significantly higher participation.
3. Your vote is your voice – we don’t own it, and would never try to control it. We encourage you to vote for the candidates you think will best ensure important principles like free speech, and good governance, are brought to the InternetNZ board table.
4. For what it’s worth, we believe Jonathan Ayling and Douglas Brown are both the best candidates to advance these goals, and should be ranked as such.
5. You will also be asked to vote on the motion by David Farrar to support changes to the constitution. We encourage you to support these changes, which the Free Speech Union has helped draft.