03/08/2025
Too important NOT to share
Thanks Sarah Asher
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I was going to call it βf**keryβ β but βwhakaariβ felt more accurate. Because this isnβt a conversation. Itβs a theatrical performance, and some people are auditioning like their coloniser card depends on it.
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Free speech is not a licence to say whatever you want, wherever you want, without challenge.
It protects you from government censorship β not from critique, disagreement, or being held to account.
The way itβs being thrown around right now β from councils to comment sections β shows how misunderstood (and misused) it really is.
So letβs clear a few things up.
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The idea of free speech came out of Europe during the Enlightenment (that famous birthplace of some other well-known exports like colonisation and racism) β a time when people were pushing back against the power of the Crown and the Church to control what could be said, printed, or believed.
That part? Fair enough.
Nobody wants to be locked up for thinking out loud.
But letβs not get it twisted.
That so-called βfreedomβ was reserved for a very specific group: rich, land-owning white men.
It didnβt extend to women.
It didnβt include poor people.
And it sure as hell wasnβt meant for Indigenous peoples or anyone else they were actively colonising.
The context matters.
And it still matters β because too many people treat free speech like itβs above scrutiny.
They act like itβs the most important right of all β even when itβs used to cause harm, shut others down, or centre themselves in someone elseβs struggle.
Thatβs not principled. Thatβs privilege.
If your idea of free speech means defending the right to say harmful things β but not the right to call them out β you donβt care about freedom.
You just want a free pass.
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People love to treat free speech like the sacred heart of democracy.
But democracy only works if the system is fair β if everyoneβs voice carries weight and everyoneβs rights are upheld.
Thatβs not the democracy we live in.
In Aotearoa β like most colonised countries β power isnβt shared equally.
Some voices are protected, even when they cause harm.
Others are dismissed, ridiculed, or punished just for speaking up.
So when people use βfree speechβ to punch down, dominate the kΕrero, or shut MΔori out of conversations about our own lives β theyβre not defending democracy.
Theyβre hijacking it.
Letβs be clear:
β’ You can express your views.
β’ Others can disagree, debate, or judge you for them.
β’ You canβt cause harm and expect no response.
β’ And you definitely canβt cry oppression when someone calls out your bu****it.
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Free speech is protected in Aotearoa β under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (1990).
But hereβs the bit people love to ignore:
It has limits.
Section 14 gives you the right to express yourself.
But Section 5 says those rights can be limited β if theyβre causing harm or infringing on the rights of others.
So no, you donβt have the legal right to:
β’ incite violence
β’ promote hate
β’ harass people
And okay β itβs not in the legislation, but hereβs my take:
You also donβt get to be a di****ad and expect no pushback.
Letβs be real:
Being banned from a Facebook group, getting booted from a public forum, or having your views challenged online is not censorship.
Itβs consequence.
Youβre still allowed to speak.
But so are we.
And weβre allowed to say:
That kΕrero is harmful.
That opinion is racist.
That post is dangerous.
You donβt get to claim victimhood when people refuse to platform your nonsense.
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These days, βfree speechβ gets thrown around whenever someone wants to say something harmful β and avoid being held responsible for it.
Weβve all seen it:
They say something racist, get called on it, and suddenly theyβre the victim.
They cry censorship.
They act like being disagreed with is oppression (insert eye roll here).
They want all the space β but none of the consequences.
Thatβs not free speech. Thatβs a cop out.
And letβs be real β they expect us to play along.
To stay calm.
To explain nicely.
To argue politely while they take up all the air in the room.
But their version of free speech isnβt real.
Itβs entitled, unexamined, and built on the assumption that theyβre always the ones who get to speak first, loudest, and last.
And to that I say⦠Not today coloniser!
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If you come at me with your racist s**t β Iβll report it and block you.
Thatβs not censorship. Thatβs how free speech works.
Youβre free to speak.
Iβm free to shut it down.
Keep pushing it, then youβre not just being annoying, youβre breaking the law.
