Latest news with #NetSafe
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Should you be free to leave nasty reviews online?
A Palmerston North hydroponics retailer is taking social media site Reddit to court over anonymous, inflammatory posts made about their business. The business owner says the reviews threaten their family and have impacted their business, and wants the online giant to be forced to unmask the identity of the user. Former NetSafe CEO Martin Cocker weighs in on whether that's possible - and what our rights to anonymity online are. Photo:
NZ Herald
08-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Proposed social media ban for under-16s gains support in Northland
NetSafe had expressed concern around how the ban will work and what the ramifications could be for youth. In Northland, Tai Tokerau Principals' Association spokesman and Whangārei principal Pat Newman was fully supportive. 'We know that in Whangārei we've had teenage suicides as a result of bullying on the internet.' He said some children had been 'scared stiff' to attend school because of cyber-bullying. Newman believed social media allowed for a disconnect that made it easy for young people to write 'nasty, vindictive things'. Children as young as 11 were sending explicit images through social media platforms, too. 'It's easy to send photos of yourself that in 10 years you may not want people to have seen.' Newman said children as young as 9 were organising fights online. The issue came to light in the media last year when a 14-year-old was left with a concussion and other injuries after a violent assault at the Fireworks Spectacular event. The video, circulated widely on social media, showed the boy being kicked in the head. Two students were also assaulted at Kerikeri High School last month, with principal Mike Clent concerned a video of the fight may have been circulating online. Newman believed social media encouraged 'inappropriate adult behaviour' to be undertaken by youngsters. 'We would not let a 10-year-old hop behind the wheel of a fast car and drive off without anybody supervising them,' he said. 'Yet we let them play with and use something just as lethal.' Newman acknowledged social media was a valuable tool in the right hands but people under 16 were still developing. Principals were doing all they could to educate and prevent harm but Newman said a level of responsibility needed to come from parents as well. Netsafe chief executive Brent Carey said Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill was an example of legislative gaps. 'Our decades of work in this space have shown us the multifaceted nature of these challenges, and effective solutions typically require a more nuanced and long-term approach.' Carey said implementation of the bill and subsequent challenges were of significant concern. Some challenges with Australia's ban included exemptions for platforms like messaging apps, online gaming platforms and services for health and education. 'Such exemptions could lead to inconsistencies in online safety measures and potentially shift risks to less moderated environments.' He said the Australian Human Rights Commission had concerns the ban was a 'blunt instrument' that could inadvertently harm young people by cutting access to support networks. Whangārei Intermediate School learning support co-ordinator Christine Thomson supported the ban. She had observed that students between 10 and 13 years old frequently used social media without supervision. Thomson had seen situations where students had spoken to people posing as teens. Fights were also organised, filmed and posted 'immediately' online, she said. Cyber-bullying had driven some students to be so anxious they avoided school altogether as well. Thomson said the problem was difficult to fully police as pages or groups that were shut down often resurfaced under new profiles. Serious incidents were often reported to Netsafe or police, where required. She felt students were too young to fully understand the responsibility social media use required. Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
1News
24-04-2025
- Business
- 1News
NZ banks to reimburse some scam victims up to $500,000
Banks will now be required to reimburse scam victims up to $500,000 if they fail to adequately warn and protect a consumer from a scam. The Banking Association has announced five new protections introduced to the Code of Banking Practice, which will be progressively rolled out over the next seven months. Where a bank fails to meet the five new commitments, institutions will compensate all or part of the loss for eligible customers. Banks will also retain the discretion to pay compensation beyond what is set out in the code. Banks would also continue to compensate losses for eligible customers when services are accessed without the customer's authority. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the compensation scheme and stronger safeguards were an "important win for bank customers". "New commitments from banks mean that if a bank fails to adequately warn and protect a consumer from a scam, they will reimburse the victim up to $500,000," he said. NetSafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said stopping scammers requires a multi-faceted approach. (Source: Breakfast) He said banks would also take a more active role in preventing scams by participating in information-sharing agreements across industry and government and educating people. "While people still need to remain vigilant and take responsibility for their own online safety, these changes will enable consumers to check a payment is legitimate before transferring money," Simpson said. Similar expectations were made clear to telecommunications companies and digital platforms, which scam messages can be carried over. The scam protection commitments include: Confirmation of Payee service for customers to check that the name of the person they are paying matches the account number. This has already begun. Pre-transaction warnings to consumers based on the payment purpose. Identification of and response to high-risk transactions or unusual account transaction activity, and the ability to block or delay transactions in some cases. Providing a 24/7 reporting channel for customers who think they've been scammed, and responding to protect accounts. Sharing scammer account information with other banks to help prevent criminal activity, and freezing funds where appropriate. NetSafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons told Breakfast that the announcement was "movement in the right direction". "What we're talking about is banks saying 'we will look at what we see as high-risk transactions, we will try and educate and inform individuals, we will allow them to contact us 24/7'. All of these things are definitely moves in the right direction to minimise the losses that New Zealanders are experiencing." He said dealing with scams was a "multifaceted thing" with lots of moving parts, which could be confusing for many people. "Knowing that people have a place to go and talk to, finding that advice is also a really key part to stopping people before they get caught in that scam." Lyons said it was hard to get an accurate picture of the amount of losses, as people feel a huge sense of shame and embarrassment about falling victim to scams. "We have to get past that idea that there's a 'type' of person that gets scammed. It's not an age, it's not a gender, it's not what you're doing. There's a scam out there that will hit you at the right time. "If it hits you at the right time, it's likely to have you fall for it. The scammers keep moving, they keep changing, they keep modifying what they do in order to make us not feel steady on our feet around these things,' he said. He said the banks sharing information with one another about bad actors was a great step forward. 'We need to be constantly changing what it is that we do to make the scam landscape as difficult and disruptive as we can for scammers and as easy to access support and help for New Zealand consumers."
