Technology helping, not harming.
The Green Party will hold digital platforms accountable to protect us and our information.
Digital environments should support our wellbeing, connect our communities, protect our privacy and respect our sovereignty and nature’s limits.
The choices we make on how to deploy and use technology should be under democratic control, not defined for us by overseas corporations who prioritise shareholders over citizens. All of us have been exposed to harmful and toxic content that damages our mental health, weakens trust between people and splinters our shared reality.
Data centres running AI models threaten to suck our energy and clean water sources dry. Intellectual property and Māori culture are exploited and stolen by unaccountable platforms. Companies from social media giants to those storing our health records collect more information about us than required while proving that they can’t be trusted with it.
Many of these platforms have become digital infrastructure necessary to access essential services, yet aren’t adequately regulated nor owned by Aotearoa. Many of us still face barriers to using these platforms at all.
Successive governments have left these platforms alone because they think it’s too hard, or they’ve wasted their time on false solutions.
The Green Party will take a harm-reduction approach to digital technology. We will hold digital platforms accountable to protect us and our information, so all of us can access and enjoy the benefits of digital services without compromising our privacy and our online safety.
Our plan
- Regulate social media platforms to address harmful content and behaviour by introducing a Digital Duty of Care. This will require algorithmic transparency and accessible and responsive complaints systems, as well as strengthening enforcement with an independent national regulator.
- Regulate artificial intelligence to ensure its use is safe, transparent and accurate,
including stronger rules around ‘deepfakes’ and scam material. - Crack down on tax avoidance and the offshoring of profits by multinational tech giants such as Meta, Amazon and Microsoft.
- Adopt and implement the Māori Data Governance Model and Māori AI Governance Framework from Te Kāhui Raraunga across the public sector to protect Māori data sovereignty.
- Strengthen obligations on data-holders to protect user and biometric data, increase penalties for privacy breaches, and strengthen enforcement powers for the Privacy Commissioner to better protect personal information.
- Expand media and digital literacy education, and equip New Zealanders to navigate AI-generated media and other emerging digital technologies.
- Reduce barriers to digital inclusion and ensure all communities have access to the internet, suitable devices and offline alternatives for essential services.