Following journalist Portia Mao’s recent victory after being silenced under the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA) by a CCP lackey, journalist Justin Wong has also been vindicated in his own case, says Nick Hanne, spokesperson for the Free Speech Union.

“This is the second time we’ve seen the HDCA weaponised by Morgan Xiao, against journalists whose jobs are to report freely on matters of public interest. But we’re thrilled that, also for the second time, the Court has respected free speech and dismissed the case. The Free Speech Union’s victory for Portia Mao set an important precedent for Wong, whose case was supported by Stuff through legal representation.

“Attempts to gag Stuff journalist Justin Wong under the HDCA were based on two incidents. Firstly, he reposted to his LinkedIn page a story about Portia Mao. Xiao asserted that by reposting, Wong encouraged people to take action against him. Secondly, Wong emailed Xiao, asking him a number of questions for an article he planned to publish in the Post. Apparently, this caused Xiao ‘harm’.

“As Judge Davenport said, ‘It would be a sad state of affairs if simply sending an email requesting answers to questions which Mr Xiao could choose not to respond to amounted to a harmful digital communication without more.’

“Mao was silenced after working to expose foreign interference in New Zealand. We operated as a critical conduit for her, funding barrister Callum Fredric, and drawing attention to the story. Wong’s win today proves that Mao's victory was good news for all Kiwis.

“If journalists can be silenced for asking questions, our democracy is in trouble. The HDCA needs major work, which is exactly why our team is conducting a comprehensive review for the Minister of Justice. Our own laws should not give individuals the power to silence others on subjective claims of ‘harm’.”

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