N. New Zealand Police Crackdown on Online Abuse Against Flood Survivors

After a week of catastrophic flooding, authorities announced a severe crackdown on online harassment of survivors. Prime Minister Balendra Shah wrote, “People who make unnecessary remarks, belittle those in pain or seek to cause further suffering are criminals.” The government will not tolerate such behaviour on social media.

Police are investigating the origins of hostile comments, tracing addresses and phone numbers linked to the posts. The case follows a woman whose brother is missing, who criticised slow rescue efforts and received many nasty remarks. Her grief was met with hostile replies, and she said, “We are already suffering so much and this has only added to our pain.”

A separate viral video featured a young woman demanding the government locate her missing husband. Commenters urged her to jump into the river and some told her not to place blame on authorities. Other comments urged consolation rather than curses and highlighted the need to calm the dialogue.

Police convened a 10‑member committee to review online comments and enforce the Electronic Transactions Act, which imposes up to five years’ imprisonment or a 100,000 rupee fine for defamation or harassment. The legal threat could affect thousands of users who may fear “rage‑baiting” and government criticism.

Dovan Rai, executive director of Body & Data, explained that some negative remarks stem from users who trigger outrage to increase views or from staunch supporters of the government. He warned that extremism could further polarise the dialogue on social media, making replies more intense.