Beware the Digital Nanny State

Has the mask officially slipped for advocacy groups claiming to be in the business of protecting children?

What began as calls for child safety online has morphed into what they now praise as “a mothers' rebellion,” complete with podcasts with the Prime Minister, 45,000 petition signatures, and wall-to-wall media coverage. But what if the story they’ve sold us isn’t the full truth?

What if they’ve knowingly, or more likely unknowingly, led us like sheep to our digital slaughter? That may sound extreme, but recent comments in the media and online reveal their ambitions stretch far beyond child protection.

Have they now appointed themselves the moral guardians of online safety for everyone?

In the spirit of keeping us all safe, they’re pushing for sweeping new online regulations, content moderation, restricted access, and even the creation of an E-Safety Commissioner. They know that the easiest cure for freedom is bureaucracy and censorship, wrapped neatly in “good intentions”.

In a recent Instagram post, the ‘mothers' rebellion’ listed their goals, which included the establishment of an Online Children’s Safety Act, an Online Commissioner, a regulator to enforce platform safety, and a centralised online safety agency.

They’re not shy about their new, wider mission. They openly argue for “online safety for all,” and they won’t stop until every one of us is ‘safe’, even from ourselves. After all, they know what’s best for us, right?

In one of their stranger media appearances, their expert claimed that if they could just regulate access to platforms or slow the internet at certain hours, kids and adults will simply turn to alternative activities like walking, reading, or maybe even knitting (ok, I added that last one).

It appears online safety isn’t really the goal. In fact, it’s starting to look like it’s about changing people’s behaviour.

I value my freedom to choose how I use my time, how I explore the digital world, and how I raise my three boys to navigate it. Why should I hand these responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats and a chorus of “rebel mums” who claim to know what’s best for me and my children?

The truth is I shouldn’t. And neither should you. In reality, the horse has bolted. The internet is ingrained in daily life for many people of all ages. We choose to engage in it, fully aware of both risks and rewards, as is our right.

But do our rights outweigh ‘child safety’? In the bigger picture, Yes. In particular my right to parent my child in line with my values and in line with their evolving capacities. This issue is bigger than child safety. Yes, there are real dangers online. Yes, we need real solutions. But the ones being offered are shallow and intrusive.

“But kids today are being harmed,” they say. As a wise judge recently told me, “Socrates was complaining about children’s behaviour 400 years before Christ.”

Here are simple questions these groups and the government avoid answering:

💻 How will a ban work? 💻 Who will implement it? 💻 How will age be verified? 💻 What counts as social media? 💻 How will privacy be protected? 💻 Why is the DIA tendering a system before public debate? 💻 Why are key ministers avoiding meetings on this issue?

Avoidance isn’t a solution, and censorship is worse. Any ban will either fail completely or need to become so invasive that it captures everybody.

So what actually works?

✅ We respect parental rights and authority.

✅ We hold parents accountable for engaging with their child’s online life.

✅ We require companies to provide robust parental controls as default features.

✅ We bring “dumb phones” back into the market so parents can decide when and how to unlock digital freedom.

✅ We build community-based digital education that walks with families, not around them.

✅ And we target illegal material directly, instead of pretending the entire internet is the threat.

These groups have a taste for moral supremacy, and they won’t stop until they save you from yourself.

Why should you be trusted to parent your own child or navigate the digital world alone without someone in Wellington looking over your shoulder?

The ‘mothers' rebellion’ can list a hundred harms, but have only bothered to work on one solution that can be summarised in two words:

Nanny State.

Ronald Reagan put it best. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”