Statement: Manifesto of the Norway attacker now included in the TCAP

The New Zealand government has banned the manifesto produced by a far-right terrorist who killed 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Oslo and Utøya, Norway, on 22 July 2011.

Given a democratic government has now criminalised possessing, distributing, viewing, and hosting this material, the TCAP will now alert the Norway attack perpetrator’s manifesto to tech companies when we find it on their platforms. This will be alongside the material produced by the Christchurch attack perpetrator, as well as material produced by designated far-right and Islamist terrorist groups in scope, all of which you can find in our Inclusion Policy.

Grounds for banning the manifesto:

New Zealand’s Classification Office has classified the manifesto under its Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, section 3(1) as objectionable content. This makes it illegal to possess, host, view, or distribute the manifesto. Objectionable content is defined as content that “describes, depicts, expresses, or otherwise deals with matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, or violence in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good.” The law gives particular weight to the consideration in whether the material 3(3)d, promotes or encourages criminal acts or acts of terrorism.

In assessing whether the Oslo Attack perpetrator’s manifesto met these criteria, New Zealand’s Classification Office has published its extensive consultation report that describes the consultation New Zealand underwent in deciding to define the material as objectionable, as well it’s Notice of Decision. The Classification Office carefully balanced free speech considerations against the risk of emboldening further terrorist violence in light of the Royal Commission’s report highlighting the manifesto's role in the Christchurch attack. It concludes that the manifesto promotes and encourages acts of crime and terrorism “to a high extent and degree, and in a manner that is likely to be injurious to the public good.”

We applaud the government of New Zealand for undergoing such an extensive consultation process and being transparent in its decision-making. We also commend the government for taking strategic leadership in criminalising this material, ensuring that tech companies have the clarity and legal grounding to remove such content from their platforms.

Given the material is now deemed objectionable, the viewing, making, and distributing of the Manifesto is illegal in New Zealand. Hosting such material is also illegal, and the Chief Censor (the Chief Executive of the Classification Office) can require tech companies to block access to the Manifesto in New Zealand. Failure to comply can be sanctioned with a fine.

If you would like to read more on New Zealand’s online regulation, please see our latest blogpost on New Zealand for the Online Regulation Series.