Courage comes in all shapes and sizes. I saw this for myself last Friday in the Manukau District Court when I went to supportPortia Mao on behalf of the Free Speech Union. Don’t let Portia’s appearance or gentle demeanour fool you. This pint-sized Kiwi-Chinese journalist isn’t backing down to anyone or anything. Portia is a […]
“… how do we do this in the online world, where respectful discourse often takes a back seat to the spiteful vitriol of anonymous trolls?” – Nick Hanne
We Kiwis are an exceptional bunch, aren’t we? Unlike Australia, our flora and fauna is largely incapable of killing us, our pronunciation (while admittedly lazy) lacks that harsh ocker twang. And, of course, let’s not forget we’re modest to a fault. Every nation has its enduring national myths. We tell ourselves stories in part to […]
“Allowing the Government to dole out shares of the spoils to different media groups via a levy system – whether public or private companies – is no less dubious an arrangement than the PIJF deal proved to be.” – Nick Hanne
“Unsurprisingly, public confidence and trust are two of the first casualties when a culture of censorship is promoted.” – Nick Hanne
“There is a deliberate and often orchestrated attempt to filter out dissenting or independent thinkers at the professional level” – Nick Hanne
“The censorial approach we see eroding academic freedom and civil liberties often reflects the
insecurity of would-be-censors” – Nick Hanne
“The two Maori panelists had completely different views as to whether free speech values were indigenous or not…” – Nick Hanne
“The very public battle of the Free Speech Union (FSU) to uphold free speech rights at Victoria University Wellington (VUW) this past week is proving to be something of a litmus test for the rest of the country” – Nick Hanne
“…. I think drag queens reading to young kids in a public library is a really bad idea. But that is my personal stance and under the law insufficient reason to silence someone” – Nick Hanne