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DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2020
Meri Kirihimete!
And what a year it’s been! Here in Aotearoa we recognise how lucky we are to be able to gather together with friends and family over the holidays, while much of the world is still in lockdown. Even so, it has been a difficult time that has affected all of us differently, and continues to do so.
Our focus in 2020 has been on supporting New Zealanders to enjoy media content safely in these unusual times. When the country went into lockdown in March, we quickly rolled out a social media campaign to help parents manage the inevitable increase in screen-time positively. We also launched our latest report ‘Growing Up With Porn’ in April - the last in a three-part research series that shines a light on how young New Zealanders are affected by online porn.
Linking in with this work, we’ve put together a range of practical resources for parents, to help them support their tamariki and rangatahi to think critically about media content. We’ve also worked with our partners in the Pornography Working Party to produce a suite of resources for parents, educators and front-line services, to help them talk with young people about porn.
This year we’ve also worked hard to support law changes that will require commercial video on-demand and streaming platforms (like Netflix and Neon) to display New Zealand age ratings and content warnings on films and shows from mid-2021.
Young people are at the heart of what we do, and we’d like to give a particular shout out here to our Youth Advisory Panel who have provided vital input to our work in 2020.
We hope this holiday season brings you rest, recuperation, joy and hope for the year ahead.
Ngā mihi o Hineraumati | Seasons greetings
from all of us at the Classification Office
School holidays are a time for playing outdoors, spending time with friends and - inevitably! - spending time online or in front of a screen. We've gathered some of our best holiday articles to bring you some handy tips for managing screen time with the whānau.
- How much screen time is TOO MUCH screen time?
- Parents, we need to talk...
- how to make the most of parental controls
- Using screen time to your advantage
- Talking with young people about what they’re watching
We'll see you in the new year but until then remember to #WatchTogether #TalkTogether
Tech crime specialist Colm Gannon from Pathfinder Labs recently dropped by to take our team through a self care session when it comes to working with high impact media. Having worked on combatting digital child exploitation for many years, he has a wealth of knowledge. You can explore his latest work with ProjectVIC here. For more info and the full infographic by talented illustrator Tara, click here (link live after web loading).
Our colleagues at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection recently released an important review of CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) reporting functions on social media platforms. It's not as easy as you might think to get images of abuse, removed. The report lists some excellent recommendations for change, and is well worth a read for all those interested in social media regulation. Click here for more info.
Most of you will be aware that the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques on 15 March 2019 was released last week. If you'd like to read the full report, you can view and download here. Our team were amongst the digital first responders to these acts of terrorism - you can read more about our agency response here.
Save the date! March 16 + 17 2021. The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies is putting together a brilliant conference on social media, democracy and the post-pandemic engagement with violence, identity, rights & peace. Curated by researchers Sanjana Hattotuwa + Jeremy Simons, the speaker line-up so far is excellent, and includes Chief Censor David Shanks. Watch this space for further details + join the Facebook event here.
Because our work involves a broad knowledge of the vast online landscape, we read a lot in the office! Here are just a few of the things that have got us thinking over the past month.
The Christchurch shooter and YouTube’s radicalization trap [ARS Technica]
Sinister sounds: podcasts are becoming the new medium of misinformation [Guardian]
The Children of Pornhub [New York Times]
Whatever happened to the Online Harms Bill? [London School of Economics]
The Crown's Majestic Untruths [The Atlantic]
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