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DX SX10088 | Wellington
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[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
7 November 2024
Isla Clarkson
[FYI request #28636 email]
Ref: OIA 116805
Tēnā koe Isla
Official Information Act request: Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015
Thank you for your request of 3 October 2024 to Netsafe, requesting information about the
Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 (the HDC Act), under the Official Information Act
1982 (the Act). On 10 October 2024, your request was transferred to the Ministry of Justice
(the Ministry) under section 14 of the Act. You requested the following, which has been
numbered, for ease of reference:
1. The number of successful prosecutions under section 22 of the Harmful Digital
Communications Act 2015 (HDCA) as of [October 3] 2024
2. The number of orders that have been granted under section 19 of the HDCA.
In your request you asked the response to be prioritised if possible, due to a timeframe you
were working toward. On 25 October 2024, the Ministry advised we were unable to meet
your timeframe and referred you to relevant publicly available information while a response
was prepared to your request.
In response to part 1 of your request, the data requested forms part of what are known as
Tier 1 statistics which are key official statistics by which New Zealand’s performance as a
country is measured. Tier 1 statistics are publicly released every year at scheduled times
(information for the previous calendar year is released in March; information for the previous
financial year is released in September). There are principles and protocols that govern their
production and release.
The Ministry is therefore able to provide data in response to this part of your request to 30
June 2024. Please refer to Table 1, attached, which provides the number of finalised
charges for offences under section 22 of the HDC Act, by outcome, for the 2015/16 –
2023/24 financial years.
In response to part 2 of your request, please refer to Table 2, attached, which provides the
number of orders granted under section 19 of the HDC Act, from 21 November 2016 when
civil remedies under the HDC Act came into force, to 30 September 2024.
If you require any further information, please contact Media & Social Media Manager Joe
Locke at [email address]
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
Official Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [email address] or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Jacquelyn Shannon
Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals, Regional Service Delivery
Table 1: Number of finalised charges for offences under section 22 of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, by outcome, for
the 2015/16 – 2023/24 financial years
Charge outcome
*2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
Convicted
12
53
72
72
76
107
96
70
61
Other proved
3
6
9
15
13
12
24
5
15
Not proved
3
25
25
33
35
50
38
37
37
Other
0
1
0
0
7
0
0
2
3
Total
18
85
106
120
131
169
158
114
116
Notes for table 1:
• This data counts charges with outcomes filed under section 22 of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015: ‘Causing Harm By Posting Digital
Communication’.
• Data is based on the final charge outcome date.
• The provisions of section 22 of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 came into force on 3 July 2015.
• *2015/2016 is a partial year covering data from 3 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.
• Charge outcomes show the final outcome of a prosecution and include:
o whether a person is convicted or not
o proved outcomes (where a person is found to be, (or pleads, guilty) including convicted and other proved (Youth Court proved (section 283
order), discharge without conviction and adult diversion/Youth Court discharge, not proven but not criminally responsible on account of
insanity)
o not proved outcomes include the person being found not guilty and where the charge is withdrawn or dismissed
o other charge outcomes including being found not guilty by reason of insanity, unfit to stand trial, or stay of proceedings ordered.
• This data is based on Tier 1 statistics, which are the key official statistics by which New Zealand’s performance as a country is measured. Tier 1
statistics are published twice a year in March and September. More information about Tier 1 statistics is available from
www.data.govt.nz/use-
data/showcase/official-statistics/ .
Table 2: Number of orders granted under section 19 of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, from 21 November 2016 – 30
September 2024
2016/17*
2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
2023/24
2024/25*
Number of order applications
2
5
8
8
26
19
20
28
11
granted
Notes for table 2:
• This data counts Harmful Digital Communications Order applications under section 19 of Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.
• Granted applications are counted by their final outcomes dates. Applications with other outcomes are not counted.
• The civil provisions of the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 came into force on 21 November 2016.
• *2016/17 and 2024/25 are partial years covering data from 21 November 2016 to 30 June 2017 and 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024 respectively.
• This data was extracted on 24/10/2024 from a live system that is subject to change.
