Advocacy Ad For ACT Party Didn’t Breach Code

The ACT New Zealand Facebook advertisement stated “Labour wants to control what you say.” The supporting text said “Support ACT’s campaign for freedom of speech”. The advertisement also contained an authorisation statement.

The Complainant said the advertisement was misleading the public by claiming the Labour Party wanted to control freedom of speech and provided no sources to support this claim.

The Chair confirmed it an advocacy advertisement, which means robust expression of opinion is allowed, as long as the advertiser is clearly identified. The Chair noted that in a free and democratic society, differences of political opinion should be openly debated without undue hindrance or interference from authorities and in no way should political parties, politicians, lobby groups or advocates be unnecessarily fettered by a technical or unduly strict interpretation of the rules and regulations.

The Chair said the opinion statement did not reach the threshold to be likely to mislead or deceive consumers. The Chair ruled there were no grounds for the complaint to proceed.

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