Summarised by Centrist
Why was a Kiwi-Chinese journalist hit with a gag order after criticising a pro-CCP candidate? That’s the question raised by Portia Mao’s ongoing legal battle – and the Free Speech Union says the real culprit is a broken law that’s enabling foreign interference.
Portia Mao, a long-time critic of Chinese Communist Party influence in New Zealand, was barred from speaking after an East Auckland political candidate used the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA) to silence her.
Mao had exposed the candidate’s strong pro-CCP views in 2023, then found herself under an interim court order that restricted her ability to speak or publish further.
The Free Speech Union, backing Mao’s legal fight, calls the HDCA a “censorship tool” that allows complainants to claim subjective emotional harm without having to prove defamation, and without truth as a defence.
As Nick Hanne writes: “It allows authoritarian sympathisers and potential agents of foreign governments to silence Kiwis who dare to speak up for democracy.”
The group says Mao’s case is part of a wider pattern. “We have evidence to suggest that dozens of similar abuses of the HDCA have occurred but have largely gone unreported.”
