We have been digging. A lot. Never-ending official information act requests that we have submitted have resulted in government documents being sent to our team that directly highlighted how the Government was targeting our business’s Facebook page. We quickly put together a video exposing this, and then mere days later, Facebook took down our Facebook page.
[…] Free speech advocates stayed silent; the opposition parties were silent, and the media was silent. Censoring of registered media companies that have not broken the guidelines is acceptable to these groups. Why? Well, they are scared. They are scared of the media vilifying them for protecting freedom of speech, afraid of their donors pulling funding if they stand up for speech they disagree with and scared of the public reaction.
[…] This is not a case just for Operation People. This is a case against this corrupt Government, corrupt corporations and the illegal silencing of unapproved dissent.
The opposition is nowhere to be found.
With an election year coming up, what will Labour implement to try and control the narrative and ensure re-election?
It’s time to stand up.
Chantelle Operation People
We have made our own OIA request, of the Ministry of Health DART group and also of the Department of Internal Affairs so that we can ascertain the level of direct damage these government agencies are doing to our site.
We are doing this for several reasons, firstly, to make a stand that this sort of secretive behaviour against a media organisation should not be tolerated in a free and democratic society, and secondly, to assess damages so we can investigate legal responses against these faceless bureaucrats who are trampling on our Bill of Rights and rights of The BFD, its writers and its readers to the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.
This is an outrageous breach of the Bill of Rights, by unelected and clearly partisan bad actors within the Ministry of Health, Netsafe and Internal Affairs. It must be challenged, it must be fought, it must be stopped.
That is why we are raising funds for our own NewsDesk. These people must be held to account and existing media are failing to even bother to lift a finger as the state sanctions appalling breaches of the Bill of Rights.
The media in New Zealand have become the propaganda press, more intent on peddling propaganda from the Labour Government than talking truth to power.
They’ve remained utterly silent about the Twitter Files, and now they are utterly silent about this breach of the Bill of Rights. They cheered the Police and Government on as mandates were enacted, they celebrated the violent suppression of a peaceful protest. They have become the enemy of the people.
It is time we fought back, but we can’t do it without your help.
Do you value a truly free press, that represents its readers, not the politicians?
Do you value speaking truth to power?
Are you a member of The BFD? Have you donated to the NewsDesk?
If not, why not?