SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

Kia ora koutou,

Lockdown 2.0 has impacted us all, and struck us all a little differently from the experience of 2020. Thank you Tāmaki Makaurau for your extended mahi to get us to this stage of eliminating Delta.

For our Wellington-based office the lockdown meant staff needed to quickly adapt to working within dynamic home environments, and navigate viewing challenging classification material outside the safe confines of the office. This is important work and it is material that doesn't stop being created when we go into lockdown.

This newsletter covers the alarming growth in sexual abuse material involving children (CSAM) and international efforts to combat it. No one organisation can do enough in this space but the Classification Office is pleased that we can be part of the solution. We discuss the launch of our collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the potential for good with Apple's intention (now paused) to scan user devices for known CSAM content.

Our newsletters generally talk about topics like sex, drugs, and the media content landscape. Our aim is to have difficult conversations and shine a light on ways to reduce harm for New Zealanders. If you know someone who should receive these updates, please share our newsletter or encourage them to subscribe here. Be sure to follow our socials too.

#WatchTogether #TalkTogether

The recruitment process for our new Deputy Chief Censor is complete and we’re pleased to welcome Rupert Ablett-Hampson to the role from early October. 

Rupert comes to us from Ministry of Social Development where he been the Chief Legal Advisor for a decade, and with the Ministry for 18 years.

Chief Censor David Shanks is looking forward to working alongside his former colleague:

"I worked with Rupert when I was at the Ministry for Social Development from 2009-2015. He has always impressed me as a very experienced legal manager, and a thoughtful leader with the nous to navigate complex issues. So it is great to have him joining us in this important role!"

We sat down with Rupert and got to know him a little better. 

Apple’s fight against CSAM could be a promising step forward

Lockdowns have triggered a global spike in people accessing or attempting to access child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. With pressure on tech companies to act, Apple announced they will be introducing a new system that scans for CSAM on US users’ devices. Then they put the move on hold. While critics have raised genuine concerns about privacy, Aotearoa’s Chief Censor David Shanks, believes this sort of initiative from tech companies presents a promising way forward.

What happens if we do nothing and place no expectation or duty of care that tech companies should be responsible for reducing the harm your devices and services might have on children and vulnerable people? It is becoming increasingly clear that the answer is ever increasing abuse and harm. Read more on our site. 

Collaboration with Canada’s Project Arachnid to aid international efforts

The New Zealand Classification Office has started a one year pilot collaboration with Canada’s Project Arachnid to search and identify child sex abuse material on the internet.

Chief Censor David Shanks said the worldwide scope of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s Project Arachnid will mean New Zealanders can benefit from increased data and reporting whilst contributing to a leading global anti-CSAM initiative.

Project Arachnid includes web-crawling software first introduced in 2017 which systematically browses the internet searching for known CSAM material. Once suspected material is found, a notice is sent to the provider requesting its removal. The software detects content at a pace that far exceeds traditional methods, processing tens of thousands of images per second.

Read the full story

INTERNET NZ launch fund to support communities affected by hate speech

We welcome this initiative by Internet NZ: the non-profit organisation has just launched an on-demand grant to support communities affected by dangerous speech online.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in visible public online hate and violent extremism targeted towards marginalised communities in New Zealand… what has become clear is that Aotearoa New Zealand’s current systems are not equipped to adequately support victims of online hate, violent extremism, and targeted abuse and threats.” —Jordan Carter, Internet NZ Chief Executive

Find out more about the funding initiative and how to apply on their site.

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

Halsey’s new music video gets a restricted classification

It’s a rare thing to watch and classify music videos at the Classification Office so the opportunity to view the ‘visual album’ If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power by American singer-songwriter Halsey was intriguing. 

Read on the blog what rating the classification team gave Halsey’s music video.

Consented? Protecting tamariki and their digital footprint

The baby on the album cover Nevermind by Nirvana is now a grown man suing the band, saying he was sexually exploited from the use of his image from 1991 onwards – and we found this really interesting.

As part of our role to classify content we see a lot of child abuse material and exploitative images in general – and it really does suck. We want to encourage whānau to think about what they are posting and where things could end up. We also need to consider our children’s digital footprint and their consent.

Read on the blog our tips for keeping our tamariki safe.

ON AIR: PODCASTS
Ara Taiohi on how to support young people

During Youth Week earlier this year we invited our friends at Ara Taiohi in for a podcast chat. We talked about how rangatahi can feel isolated, and the potential for lockdown to amplify this feeling. How can we best support our young people through lockdown and as we come out? Check out the podcast for information about working with, celebrating, supporting and understanding rangatahi. Listen in  

Chatting with Paul Spoonley 

After Aotearoa's first lockdown we chatted to Professor Paul Spoonley, Research Director for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University. We spoke about QAnon, hate speech and misinformation. Listen in to hear his fantastic expertise on these challenging topics. Listen in

Because our work involves a broad knowledge of the vast online landscape, we consume a lot of media in the office (and at home during lockdown). Here are just a few of the things we’ve enjoyed digesting over the past month.

How famous Aotearoa New Zealand landmarks got their name [Stuff.co.nz]

Experts urge rethink on children’s screen-time guidelines [NZ Herald]

How TikTok serves up sex and drug videos to minors [The Wall Street Journal]

The knock that tears families apart: ‘They were at the door, telling me he had accessed indecent images of children’ [The Guardian]

Roblox is struggling to moderate re-creations of mass shootings [The Verge]

Can I unlove ‘Love Island’? [ArtReview]

REVIEW: Patrick Gower: On Hate puts the focus where it should be – on the victims [The Spinoff]