The purpose of this Act is to—

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

This Act binds the Crown.

The communication principles are—

A digital communication should not disclose sensitive personal facts about an individual.

A digital communication should not be threatening, intimidating, or menacing.

A digital communication should not be grossly offensive to a reasonable person in the position of the affected individual.

A digital communication should not be indecent or obscene.

A digital communication should not be used to harass an individual.

A digital communication should not make a false allegation.

A digital communication should not contain a matter that is published in breach of confidence.

A digital communication should not incite or encourage anyone to send a message to an individual for the purpose of causing harm to the individual.

A digital communication should not incite or encourage an individual to commit suicide.

A digital communication should not denigrate an individual by reason of his or her colour, race, ethnic or national origins, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

In performing functions or exercising powers under this Act, the Approved Agency and courts must—

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister,—

Before recommending the making of an Order in Council under subsection (1), the Minister must be satisfied that the appointee has the appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience to carry out some or all of the functions of the Approved Agency under this Act.

The Approved Agency holds office for the term specified in the order made under subsection (1).

A person is not to be regarded as being employed in the service of the Crown for the purposes of the Public Service Act 2020 or the Government Superannuation Fund Act 1956 solely because of his or her appointment as the Approved Agency.

The Approved Agency is subject to the Ombudsmen Act 1975, the Official Information Act 1982, and the Public Records Act 2005 in respect of functions that the Agency or any delegate of the Agency performs under this Act.

An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

The functions of the Approved Agency are—

The Agency may, subject to any other enactment, seek and receive any information that the Agency considers will assist it in the performance of its functions.

The Agency may refuse to investigate, or cease investigating, any complaint if the Agency considers that—

The Agency may decide not to take any further action on a complaint if, in the course of assessing or investigating the complaint, it appears to the Agency that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, any further action is unnecessary or inappropriate.

If the Agency decides not to take any further action on a complaint, it must notify the complainant of the right to apply to the District Court for an order under this Act.

Subject to the approval of the Minister, the Approved Agency may delegate to any person or organisation any of its functions and powers except this power of delegation.

Before delegating any functions or powers, the Approved Agency must be satisfied that the delegate has the appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience to carry out those functions or powers.

A delegation—

A person or organisation performing or exercising any delegated functions or powers may perform and exercise them in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred directly by this Act and not by delegation.

A person or organisation who acts under a delegation given under this section is presumed to be acting in accordance with its terms in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

Any action or decision of a delegate under the delegation is treated as an action or decision of the Approved Agency under this Act.

A delegate must comply with all reasonable requests or requirements of the Approved Agency for the purpose of enabling the Agency to comply with the Ombudsmen Act 1975, the Official Information Act 1982, and the Public Records Act 2005 in respect of functions to which the delegation applies.

This section applies if the Approved Agency is not a department or Crown entity.

If this section applies, no civil action lies against any employee of the Agency, or against any employee of a delegate of the Agency, for any act done or omitted by the Agency, or by the delegate, or by him or her, in good faith in the performance or intended performance of the functions, duties, or powers of the Agency.

However, subsection (2) does not prevent a person from filing an application for review under section 8 of the Judicial Review Procedure Act 2016 in relation to the exercise, refusal to exercise, or proposed or purported exercise by the Approved Agency of a statutory power within the meaning of that Act or otherwise affect the operation of that Act.

Any of the following may apply to the District Court for an order under section 18 or 19:

The chief coroner may apply for an order under section 18 or 19(1)(a) or (b) or (2)(a) in respect of a digital communication that contravenes a provision of the Coroners Act 2006.

An applicant referred to in section 11(1)(a), (b), or (c) may not apply for an order under section 18 or 19 in respect of a digital communication unless the Approved Agency has first received a complaint about the communication and had a reasonable opportunity to assess the complaint and decide what action (if any) to take.

In any case, the District Court must not grant an application from an applicant referred to in section 11(1)(a), (b), or (c) for an order under section 18 or 19 unless it is satisfied that—

The court may, on its own initiative, dismiss an application from an applicant referred to in section 11(1)(a), (b), or (c) without a hearing if it considers that the application is frivolous or vexatious, or for any other reason does not meet the threshold in subsection (2).

The court may, on its own initiative, dismiss an application under section 11 from the Police if satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the application should be dismissed.

This section applies when the District Court considers an application under section 11 that arises from the subject matter of a complaint that has been received by the Approved Agency (whether or not the complaint has been assessed under section 12(1)).

The court—

The District Court or any Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the court may require the Approved Agency to provide information for the purposes of satisfying the court of any matters referred to in sections 12 and 13.

The Approved Agency must provide the information in the form (if any) prescribed by rules of court.

Applications for any orders under section 18 or 19 must—

The court may give directions as to service and, if the court considers it appropriate to do so in the circumstances, having regard to the principles of natural justice, the court may consider an application made on a without notice basis.

No filing fee is payable for an application.

The court must, having regard to the circumstances of the particular case, direct that an application be determined—

The court may deal with an application in any manner that it thinks will preserve the anonymity of a party so that the party’s identity is not released to any other party during the proceedings.

The court must give reasons for any decision it makes in the proceedings.

The decision, including the reasons, must be published.

Subsections (3) and (4) are subject to subsection (2).

The court may receive any evidence or information that may in its opinion assist it to deal effectively with any proceedings under this Act, whether or not the evidence or information would be otherwise admissible in a court of law.

The District Court or the High Court, as the case may be, may appoint a technical adviser to assist it in considering and determining an application for an order under section 19 or any appeal under section 124 of the District Court Act 2016.

The duties of a technical adviser are—

The court or any Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the court must appoint a technical adviser if the court is considering an application for an order under section 19(2)(a) or (b) or (3) or (4)(a).

The Judge may give any weight to the technical adviser’s advice that the Judge thinks fit, and the Judge alone must determine the application or appeal.

The Minister must maintain a panel of persons who may be appointed under this section as technical advisers, and only persons named on the panel may be appointed under this section as technical advisers.

A technical adviser may be appointed to the panel for up to 5 years, and the appointment continues until—

The chief executive must pay technical advisers the remuneration and allowances determined from time to time by the Minister.

The District Court may, if the court considers it is desirable to do so, grant any interim orders pending the determination of the application for orders under section 19.

An interim order under this section may do anything that may be done by order under section 19 and expires when the application under that section is determined.

The District Court may, on an application, make 1 or more of the following orders against a defendant:

The District Court may, on an application, make 1 or more of the following orders against an online content host:

The District Court may, on application, make an order against an IPAP that the identity of an anonymous communicator be released to the court.

The court may also do 1 or more of the following:

In deciding whether or not to make an order, and the form of an order, the court must take into account the following:

In doing anything under this section, the court must act consistently with the rights and freedoms contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

Any applicant who obtains an order under section 18, 19, or 22B or any other party to that order may apply for an order under subsection (2).

The District Court may, by order, do any of the following things to an order made under section 18, 19, or 22B:

The court may make an order referred to in subsection (2)(a) or (b) on its own initiative, whether or not an application is made.

A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with an order made under section 18, 19, or 22B commits an offence.

A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to,—

A person commits an offence if—

In determining whether a post would cause harm, the court may take into account any factors it considers relevant, including—

A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to,—

This section does not apply if the posted digital communication is an intimate visual recording to which the offence in section 22A applies.

A person commits an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, posts a digital communication that is an intimate visual recording of a victim—

An individual under the age of 16 years cannot consent to the posting of an intimate visual recording of which they are the subject.

A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to,—

On application under this section and if the court considers it desirable to do so, the court conducting the proceedings for an offence under section 22A may make,—

The following interim orders are available to the court under subsection (1)(a):

The following orders are available to the court under subsection (1)(b):

In this section, a defendant is proven to have committed an offence under section 22A if—

Section 24 provides protection for an online content host in respect of any specific content of a digital communication posted by a person and hosted by the online content host if the host follows the process in that section.

The fact that an online content host does not take advantage of section 24 does not of itself create any civil or criminal liability for hosting the specific content.

Section 24 does not affect any rights or defences otherwise available to the online content host in respect of the hosting of the specific content (for example, the removal of content or the creation, exercise, or taking advantage of any contractual indemnity or immunity or any other term of use).

This section is subject to section 25(5).

No civil or criminal proceedings may be brought against an online content host in respect of the content complained of (the specific content) if the online content host—

The requirements of this subsection are that—

Host to notify author of complaint

Author’s counter-notice consenting to removal of content

Author’s counter-notice refusing consent to removal of content

Author failing to submit valid counter-notice

A notice of complaint must—

A counter-notice must state—

An online content host must not disclose any personal information about the complainant or author under information privacy principle 11(1)(e)(iv) set out in section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020, except by order of a District Court Judge or a High Court Judge made on an application under this subsection.

Nothing in subsection (5) affects the application of any other provision in the Privacy Act 2020.

This section is subject to section 25(5).

The Approved Agency may lodge a notice of complaint under section 24 on behalf of a complainant and provide advice and assistance to the complainant in relation to the complaint.

The protection conferred on an online content host by section 24 does not apply if the host does not provide an easily accessible mechanism that enables a user to contact the host about specific content in the manner provided in that section.

The protection conferred on an online content host by section 24 does not apply if the person who provides the specific content does so on behalf, or at the direction, of the online content host.

Nothing in section 23 or 24 or this section affects—

Nothing in section 23 or 24 or this section limits the right of an individual to injunctive relief in relation to the content of a digital communication posted by another person and hosted by the online content host.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations for all or any of the following purposes:

Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

The power to make rules of court under section 148 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 and section 228 of the District Court Act 2016 includes the power to make rules regulating the practice and procedure of courts in the exercise of jurisdiction conferred by this Act.

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), rules made in accordance with that subsection may—

Amend the Acts specified in the Schedule as set out in that schedule.

This subpart amends the Crimes Act 1961.

In section 179, insert as subsections (2) and (3):

This subpart amends the Harassment Act 1997.

After section 3(2), insert:

In section 4(1)(d), after “correspondence,”, insert “electronic communication,”.

After section 4(1)(e), insert:

After section 19(1), insert:

This subpart amends the Human Rights Act 1993.

In section 61(1)(a), after “radio or television” insert “or other electronic communication”.

In section 61(2), after “radio or television” insert “or other electronic communication”.

After section 62(3)(j), insert:

After section 63(2)(j), insert:

This subpart amends the Privacy Act 1993.

In section 6, Principle 10(a), after “publicly available publication”, insert “and that, in the circumstances of the case, it would not be unfair or unreasonable to use the information”.

In section 6, Principle 11(b), after “publicly available publication”, insert “and that, in the circumstances of the case, it would not be unfair or unreasonable to disclose the information”.

In section 56, insert as subsection (2):