How to improve the Aotearoa New Zealand Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms?
4. Map, compass, and guardrails
In this conclusion, we signal six of the key features of a human rights and te Tiriti approach to online
safety and harms in Aotearoa New Zealand. The features are illustrative, not exhaustive, and invite
constructive discussion.
1. Values
They are the starting point. Critically important values, such as kaitiatikanga (stewardship),
manaakitanga (respect), dignity, decency, fairness, equality, transparency, freedom, wellbeing,
safety, participation, autonomy, partnership, community, and responsibility, are embodied in human
rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi.
These values affirm and supplement the Code’s ‘Guiding Principles’.15
2. Laws, norms, and standards
Standards are designed to help all parties navigate these challenging issues. Map, compass, and
guardrails, they include:
•
te Tiriti o Waitangi (see section 2)
•
International Bill of Human Rights16
•
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
•
Human Rights Act 1993
•
New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
•
Aotearoa New Zealand Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms
•
digital platforms’ community guidelines.
These standards, which range from binding law to voluntary guidance, need ‘unpacking’ and
applying to online safety and harms in Aotearoa New Zealand.17
3. Context matters (see section 1)
The effective implementation of human rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi depends upon a nuanced
appreciation of the historical, demographic, economic, social, cultural, environmental, and legal
context in Aotearoa New Zealand.
4. Equity and non-discrimination
These are critically important dimensions of human rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi: they need to
shape process, implementation, and accountability. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
begins, “All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.18
5. Transparency (see section 3)
It is imperative that we understand how digital platform services operate and how companies and
governments collect and use the data they generate.
Transparency is an established feature of a human rights approach.
6. Accountability
Monitoring is often conflated with accountability, but monitoring is only one step towards
accountability. Accountability can be understood as:
10