This story was originally published on The Spinoff.
The government appears poised to revisit long-shelved reforms to media regulation as a political storm gathers around the Broadcasting Standards Authority. The row began when the BSA, traditionally a watchdog for TV and radio only, asserted jurisdiction over online talk network The Platform, prompting an eruption from its founder, Sean Plunket, and allies including David Seymour and Winston Peters, who accused the authority of “Soviet-era stasi” censorship.
Media minister Paul Goldsmith has suggested the agency may have a point. “It’s not obvious to me why one group of people who are broadcasting in a very similar way should be subject to the BSA and another group shouldn’t be,” he told Stuff’s Lloyd Burr, hinting that online-only stations such as The Platform and Reality Check Radio could soon be covered.
