Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker has taken aim at social media companies, saying what they allow on their platforms is “ruining civilisation” and “ruining our democracies.”
The comments were made in an interview on Q+A about the current waves of global instability rocking the globe.
Parker admitted those were strong words, “but I believe it to be true.”
“Youth suicide, mental health problems with young people, people getting ripped off all of their savings from scams, and those companies are doing nothing to prevent it – in fact they’re selling services to the people doing it,” he said.
The opposition spokesperson also said the platforms were being used to send “death threats against politicians,” referencing a recent story that Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has had to increase security over threats.
“This is appalling. Lies, defamation, theft of content,” Parker went on.
He said the key point that ties these social ills together is the protection social media companies have from liability over what users do with their platforms.
“Until the world deals with something like that … the lies that we see pervading the world will prevail over truth, and we risk demagoguery and dictatorship.”
Labour floats legislative action on platforms
Parker said New Zealand could lead on the issue by removing the exclusion of liability for social media companies, and leave it to the courts to sort of the balance between freedom of expression and the duty to not sell a harmful product.
“I like that idea personally because I don’t like the idea of government being a censor, it should be up to those social media companies to prevent the harm they’re causing.”
Parker said he thought the world is becoming increasingly sick of “these selfish tech billionaires who are ruining things – how much money do they need?”
“Those unfair settings, they can’t last. The wild west of social media has to end. And I really do think they’re megalomaniacal tax avoiding tech billionaires.”
American billionaire Elon Musk has made headlines in recent months as his close relationship with US president Donald Trump influences White House policy.
Musk bought the politically-influential social platform Twitter in 2022, later implementing significant changes to its moderation policies and rebranding it as X.
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
