Documents released to the Free Speech Union under the
Official Information Act show the Department of Internal
Affairs lining up the digital Kiwi Access Card, the old 18+
card, as the tool for social media age checks, along with a
communications plan designed to stop New Zealanders
recognising a mandatory digital ID scheme when they see
one.
A February briefing to the Minister of Education
states the digital Kiwi Access Card “could also be used
for online age verification if the government were to
introduce requirements for social media platforms to require
age assurance”. The card is being built on the
Government’s own wallet and verification
apps.
“There is a vast difference between digital ID
as a convenience at the bar door and requiring every New
Zealander to verify their identity prior to accessing lawful
speech. Crucially, Parliament has never voted on any of
it”, says Jillaine Heather, Chief Executive of the Free
Speech Union.
Age checks for social media do not just
affect children. To keep under-16s out, every adult must
prove their age. The Privacy Commissioner has conceded this
and yet the DIA continues to build the machinery as if
Parliament has already approved the scheme.
The
documents also show DIA has prepared a “Key Messages on
Digital Identity” pack to “mitigate concerns on any misuse
of digital ID as part of the minimum age proposals”,
including the line that “it is important that the public
understands that the Trust Framework is not a government ID
scheme”.
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“When a government department writes a script
to stop you seeing mandatory age-gating, and a digital ID
scheme for what it is, that tells you the department knows
exactly what it is,” says Heather.
“Parliament has not
decided whether adults must identify themselves before
reading lawful content online. That is the whole question,
and DIA is answering it with procurement contracts and
talking points instead of a vote.”
“New Zealanders are
entitled to know what DIA is building before the
surveillance infrastructure is embedded, because once it is
built, no government will take it down,” says
Heather.
