NZF MP accuses former youth leader of HDCA breach

reports:

NZ First MP Tracey Martin has claimed Curwen Rolinson is in breach of the Harmful Digital Communications Act, passed in July. In a blog post, Rolinson, former of the NZ First youth wing, accused Martin of undermining party MP .

Speaking at the University of Otago last week, Martin suggested that Rolinson was in breach of the law as a result of a blog post written on 6 July, four days after the Act was officially made into law. 

“I've been working on the Harmful Digital Communications bill and what Curwen [Rolinson] did, what Whaleoil [blogger Cameron Slater] does, that's harmful digital communications,” said Martin.

The Act states that a person is in breach of the law if they intentionally cause harm to someone on the . “A person commits an offence if the person posts a digital communication with the intention that it cause harm to a victim,” the law reads. 

If it causes serious emotional harm. I don't think criticising an MP falls into that sphere. It would be a very bad thing if MPs truied to silence critics using the HDCA. I doubt they would possibly succeed, but would be a bad look to even threaten or try.

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