Bob McCoskrie: 1News’ social media policy… good for some

1News’s social media moderation… for some but not others.

This week, TVNZ published information about how its newsroom operates, as it focuses – as it says – “on transparency and inspiring trust in news”.

Ooh – they’ve just realised that it matters. Trust and transparency.

They also say

Information explaining why comments are sometimes deleted or turned off on social media platforms has also been published.

So let’s check their policy, and then let’s check how they’ve been doing, shall we? OK.

1News says that the most common reason comments are turned off is that there is a risk they could break the law –defamatory comments, breaches of name suppression, or cases currently before the court.

This all makes sense. But that doesn’t tell you everything.

Let’s dig deeper into the policy.

1News welcomes feedback on our stories and thousands of users around the world share their diverse views in the comments of our social media posts every day. Not all these views are harmonious — nor should they be — but some are considered harmful, legally fraught, or even dangerous.

That’s why 1News moderates comments on its social media accounts — sometimes deleting comments and sometimes turning comments off. When deciding what action to take, we consider the safety of our audience, the individuals and groups mentioned in our articles, the law, and the wellbeing of our community management team.

And then some specifics:

Our most common reason for turning off comments is they could break the law. We can’t allow potentially defamatory comments on our posts as legal action could be taken against both TVNZ, who owns 1News, and the comment poster…. we need to ensure comments aren’t in contempt of court, for example we can’t risk commenters breaching name suppression orders.

And then they list some social house rules:

Don’t break the law
No promotions or spam
Your posts, your responsibility – Everything you contribute is your responsibility and is in no way endorsed by TVNZ.

Interestingly a lot of people don’t understand that and think that if there is a comment on your Facebook page, that you as the host must completely agree with it. Which of course, is ridiculous.

But they also have

Be kind and courteous

No hate speech or bullying – Make sure that everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn’t allowed, and degrading comments about things such as race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated.

You can see a whole lot of red flags amongst that – which I will show you shortly.

Finally, they admit that…

On Facebook, we can turn off all comments or delete individual comments that don’t comply with our rules.On X, however, we only have the option to turn off comments, as the platform will not allow us to delete replies. Because of this, we are more likely to turn off comments on an X post than a Facebook post.

And that’s how we would deal with it. We wouldn’t close comments but we would certainly delete offensive comments on our facebook page and sometimes block the user because they’ve repeatedly been offensive or are simply trolling our page looking for a verbal ‘fight’. Our page is primarily for our supporters to discuss the issues we are raising.

And it’s almost a full time job moderating social media – and we just don’t have the resource for that. So sometimes we do miss nasty stuff, but fortunately our supporters usually alert us to any offending items.

But TVNZ is a state owned commercially funded enterprise and a media company that should have the resource to have full time staff on this.

So you’ve heard their policy.

How are they doing? Let’s check it out.

Exhibit 1: In an exclusive interview, Jacinda Ardern openly throws her support behind Kamala Harris at the Democrats’ convention in Chicago. No comments allowed. Be kind and courteous – but we’re not even going to risk it with Jacinda. No hate speech or bullying. Actually, it’s no speech at all!

Exhibit 2: Ardern’s trajectory could give Kamala Harris supporters reason for both hope and trepidation. No comment allowed. Perhaps it’s like Kamala’s media interviews. No comment. No interviews.

Exhibit 3: So this is Jessie Smollett – ah sorry – Shaneel Lal fearing for his life because of the impending violence from his own side at the Posie Parker rally. They allowed comments but obviously it wasn’t going the way they wanted so they stopped it. But note what Lal is saying at the clip I grabbed. He’s labelling feminist groups, families, kiwis who believe that only a woman can be a woman, as “nazis and TERFS” but 1News moderating team are all good with that. That isn’t deleted.

EXHIBIT 4: Controversial anti-transgender rights speaker Posie Parker. All good for comments on this one. Let’s stick it to Posie eh.

EXHIBIT 5: In her first in-depth interview, the former Green MP claims there was “no joy” in stealing expensive clothes, “just shame”. Comments are turned off. But 1News admitted they monitor every comment and they could just delete and even ban offensive people & comments. But maybe its special treatment for Golriz – but not for Posie.

EXHIBIT 6: Golriz fined for shoplifting, denied discharge without conviction. No comments allowed. In fact 1News team said

Kia ora—In certain cases involving New Zealand Police or New Zealand’s courts, 1News disables comments to ensure compliance with court orders, uphold name suppression, and maintain due process of law. This action is taken to protect the rights and privacy of individuals involved and respect legal constraints surrounding the matter. We understand the value of open dialogue, but these circumstances require us to prioritise legal considerations and adhere to our ethical standards.

I can’t see any connection between that statement and Golriz where a decision has been made, there’s no name suppression or privacy, and the process of law is complete.

But no comments.

EXHIBIT 7: Remember the bullying of Children’s Minister and ACT MP Karen Chhour who said she is under constant personal attack in the halls of power and no longer feels safe at work, and had her Maori heritage questioned by nasty objectionable Labour and Te Pati Maori MPs. Do you remember that interview where she was very emotional in front of the camera as she detailed the intense bullying she was receiving from other MPs. Well, apparently that’s all good for trolls on Facebook to comment on.

And here’s one – ironically an astrologist –

So glad Act politicians are feeling under attack and scared, we will have to keep the pressure up and make their lives no better than what they are doing to us.

But check these two posts.

EXHIBIT 8: Auckland police are investigating claims a man was assaulted outside a Destiny Church property in an Auckland suburb. Comments allowed.

EXHIBIT 9: Rotorua Library was set to host Rainbow Storytime on March 21, but called it off the day before due to “safety concerns”. Comments are turned off. Why?

Kia ora, we value respectful and inclusive dialogue on our platform. Comments that are discriminatory or harmful towards the rainbow community will not be tolerated. To prevent further violations of our Social House Rules, we’ve turned off comments on this story.

Classic. Check out the comments on the Destiny assault one – and see if there’s any discriminatory or harmful comments against Destiny. OK – you already know the answer to that.

And here’s a classic

EXHIBIT 10 – Q+A caught up with the former Green, in what could be their final week in Parliament. Um – her final week. But here’s the funny bit. 1News have limited comments…. to just one. Their comment. Which says:

Comments that are discriminatory or harmful will not be tolerated. To prevent violations of our Social House Rules, we’ve turned off comments on this story.

There have been no discriminatory or harmful comments because they haven’t allowed ANY comments!

No comments on this one either.

EXHIBIT 10 – Not even an explanation. But maybe you can figure out why this story on monkeypox and microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles didn’t make the cut. Was it the topic, what she dared to say, or just her?

EXHIBIT 11 – You’re probably not surprised by this one allowing no comments eh. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has landed in the middle of a divide about gender in sports after her Italian competitor, Angela Carini, pulled out seconds into their bout. A woman being bashed by a man does that eh.

But Israel Folau is just as controversial – according to the media.

EXHIBIT 12 – this is from March.

But remember that 1News says that “Comments that are discriminatory or harmful will not be tolerated”

Except for these ones

what the F – he’s a religious nut job

He talks bigotry and promotes hate through stupid religious dogma. Anyone who thinks that way in the 21st century needs to be called to account. Religion is hate speech

homophobic bigot of epic proportions

A whole smorgasbord here…

Guys a Muppet! Ignorant Bible bashing homophobic bigot. Ruined not only his career but destroyed his wife’s. Muppet. Bigot.

But remember – Comments that are discriminatory or harmful will not be tolerated”

You see, the problem is that the moderation done by 1News doesn’t follow the policy objectively.

If they’re going to have a policy they need to apply it fairly and evenly, even to people they don’t personally like, or to pet projects where they believe only their comments should count and yours shouldn’t.

If this is evidence of 1News inspiring trust and being transparent, they may just need to go back to the drawing board.

Bob McCoskrie is the National Director of Family First New Zealand, he has a Masters of Commerce with Honours from the University of Auckland and a Diploma of Teaching from the Auckland College of Education. He posts regularly on McBlog - Where this article was sourced.