5 May 2026
ESOIA936
Amy
[FYI request #34335 email]
Tēnā koe Amy,
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, transferred to my
office on 7 April 2026, in which you requested the following information:
1. The total number of individuals who have been blocked from the official social
media accounts operated by the Minister of Education and the Associate
Minister(s) of Education from September 2023 to May 2026.
2. For each minister, please provide the number of blocked accounts per
platform (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, etc.).
3. The date range during which these blocks were applied, if recorded.
4. Any policies, guidelines, or internal criteria used by the Minister or their office
when deciding to block individuals on official ministerial social media
channels.
I have considered your request under the Act.
In response to
parts one and two of your request, social media platforms do not
provide a total number of blocked individuals. I have been operating my social
media pages since 2017, when I became a National Party candidate. Many of the
profiles would have been blocked from before I became a Minister, and I therefore
do not have Ministerial responsibility for those.
Furthermore, collating a list of all profiles blocked from my social media pages would
require manually counting each profile. Manual collation would cause a significant
impact on the ability of my staff to perform their core roles, which is not in the public
interest.
I am therefore refusing these parts of your request under section 18(g) of the Act, as
the information requested is not held in my capacity as a Minister, and section 18(f) of
the Act, as the information requested cannot be made available without substantial
collation or research.
In response to
part three of your request, the date range during which blocks were
applied is not recorded. I am therefore refusing this part of your request under
section 18(e) as the information requested does not exist.
In response to
part four of your request, my office does not have specific processes
or policies for deciding to block individuals. I am therefore refusing this part of your
request under section 18(e) as the information requested does not exist.
While I do reserve the right, along with my staff to moderate my social media
profiles, my social media is not the primary channel for announcing Government
business. The primary channel for Government business is the Beehive website, on
which my press releases, speeches, and other content is uploaded. Member of the
public are able to send concerns, enquiries, and general correspondence directly to
my office.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review
this decision. You can do this by writing to [email address] or Office
of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Kind regards
Hon Erica Stanford
Minister of Education
