A cynic would see this announcement as a way to silence critics of the government before the election.

We already know that they are unable to define “hate speech”, and Jacinda Ardern says we will “know it when we see it”, which means that no one can say anything without fear of being criminalised.

Without clear guidelines, this will have a chilling effect on free speech – which no doubt is the government’s intention.

What do you think?

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A contribution from The BFD staff.