Half Of Diverse Audiences Avoid Broadcasts Due To Experience With Harmful Content

Many members of diverse communities avoid public broadcasts due to experiences with offensive or harmful content, new Broadcasting Standards Authority research finds.

More than three-quarters of Māori (79%), Pacific Peoples (85%), Asians (76%) and Muslims (75%) surveyed by the BSA feel exposure to offensive, discriminatory or controversial views is a problem in New Zealand.

About a third of Māori, Pacific Peoples and Muslims, and 21% of Asians, have read, seen or heard such views shared publicly in the past six months. Examples include inciting conflict, reinforcing stereotypes, misinformation, unbalanced reporting and jokes or attacks about people’s differences.

More than half say they avoid viewing or listening to TV or radio because there’s too much misinformation and inappropriate content (Māori 55%, Pacific 50%, Asian 52%, Muslim 52%).

Social media, however, is the most cited platform for seeing offensive material (and considered the most harmful), followed by free-to-air TV and online news sites.

Only a minority of those surveyed feel New Zealand has the right balance between freedom of expression and potential harm, while a majority feel freedom of expression needs to be tempered by the need to respect the views of others.

The findings form part of new BSA research* on impacts of particular forms of expression on diverse communities, and how well these communities are served by the broadcasting standards regime.

Other findings include:

• Sizeable proportions of each community believe stronger limits on freedom of expression are needed to prevent harm (Māori 56%, Pacific 60%, Asian 45%, Muslim 41%).
• While social media is seen as the most prevalent and harmful source of offensive content, conveying it on mainstream media is seen as helping to legitimise it. The “relative anonymity” of talkback radio and social media is seen as encouraging more extreme views to be voiced.
• Focus groups acknowledge many instances may appear minor, but see the prevalence as building cumulatively into something much more harmful. 
• Many feel anger or hurt as a result. Participants point to wide impacts such as normalisation of bad behaviour/stereotypes; damage to aspirations; feeling unsafe, judged or “not fitting in”; as well as impacts on confidence, mental health and self-esteem. 
• However, significant proportions of each community also feel “people should be able to say what they want as you can always turn off the programme or choose not to listen”.
• The most common response to experiencing offensive views is talking to family/friends, followed by making a complaint to the broadcaster, comment online and complaint to a government body (the Human Rights Commission is first port of call for most, then the BSA).
• Personal impacts, including potential violence or harm to their families, are key motivators for making a complaint.

BSA Chief Executive Stacey Wood says it’s saddening to see the extent of feelings of anger, hurt and rejection engendered by content across many platforms. 

“Our research gives sobering insights into these communities’ experiences of harm and their perspectives on the weight to be given to freedom of expression in different scenarios. The findings will be useful in informing future BSA decisions.

“They also raise serious issues to be tackled in any reform of content regulation, including the need for a regime that effectively addresses social media – seen as the key channel for spreading offensive content. Future reforms should also consider the cumulative impact of harmful content and seek to deal with systemic issues.

“With other research highlighting concerns over falling trust in media generally, our survey also gives some insight into what might be impeding trust and engagement with content among the communities we surveyed.

“An industry-led national wānanga last year, which brought news media and community leaders together to find ways to improve trust in news through better representation, was a positive step – but these findings suggest there’s still a way to go,” Wood says.

The full research report is available on the BSA website here.

* The research was conducted for the BSA by AK Research & Consulting to explore the views and experiences of New Zealand’s Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian and Muslim communities. It involved initial focus group discussions with groups from these communities which were used to inform a subsequent broader-reaching online survey of 493 members of these groups. Fieldwork was conducted 8-15 April and 2-16 May 2024.

The margin of error for each sample size for a 50% figure at the 95% confidence level is: Māori +/- 7.9%; Pacific peoples +/- 8.0%; Asian +/- 7.3%: Muslim +/- 10.0%.

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