PILLAR Unveils Digital Bill of Rights

MEDIA RELEASE | 02 July 2026 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As the Government pursues sweeping new powers over the online world, including the proposed Under-16 Social Media Bill and broader internet regulation, PILLAR NZ has today unveiled a draft New Zealand Digital Bill of Rights.

The proposed legislation establishes a simple constitutional principle: the rights New Zealanders enjoy offline must remain protected online.

PILLAR says the Bill has been developed in response to an unmistakable trend in New Zealand and overseas, where governments are increasingly seeking greater control over digital life through age verification, online regulators, digital identity systems, surveillance technologies, algorithmic decision-making and restrictions on lawful online expression.

Executive Director Nathan Seiuli said New Zealand is approaching a defining moment for civil liberties.

"We're witnessing a fundamental shift in the relationship between citizens and the State. Every new problem online is being met with the same solution: more regulation, more surveillance, more bureaucracy and more government control."

"The Under-16 Social Media Bill isn't the end of the conversation. It's the beginning of a much broader push for greater state control over how New Zealanders access, communicate and participate online."

The Digital Bill of Rights would require governments to demonstrate that any limitation on digital rights is lawful, necessary and proportionate. It would strengthen protections against unjustified digital surveillance, protect the right to use encryption and privacy-enhancing technologies, safeguard due process when AI and automated systems are used, preserve alternatives to compulsory digital identity systems, and reinforce freedom of expression in digital environments.

Seiuli said technology itself is not the threat. “We embrace innovation. We embrace AI. We embrace technology that improves people's lives. What we reject is the steady expansion of government power every time a new technology emerges."

"History shows that governments rarely surrender powers once they've acquired them. If we don't establish constitutional guardrails now, we'll spend the next generation trying to claw back freedoms that should never have been lost."

PILLAR says New Zealand has an opportunity to avoid repeating mistakes made overseas, where online safety and misinformation laws have increasingly been accompanied by censorship, digital identity requirements, expanded surveillance and growing government influence over online platforms.

"This is about drawing a line in the sand. Your rights don't disappear because they're exercised through a smartphone instead of a town square. Privacy is still privacy. Free speech is still free speech. Due process is still due process."

"The Digital Bill of Rights makes it clear that technology must serve free people. Free people should never be expected to serve technology or the State."

Rather than creating another regulator or imposing new compliance burdens on businesses, the Bill provides a constitutional framework governing how public authorities exercise power in digital environments and how future digital legislation should be assessed against fundamental rights.

PILLAR will now begin engaging with Members of Parliament, legal experts and civil society organisations with the goal of introducing the proposal to Parliament.

Seiuli said the choice facing New Zealand is bigger than social media.

"This isn't a debate about one app or one Bill. It's about whether New Zealand remains a country where citizens control technology, or one where technology becomes another tool for government control."

"If Parliament is going to build New Zealand's digital future, then it must build it on freedom, not fear."

The NEW ZEALAND DIGITAL BILL OF RIGHTS can be found HERE.

ENDS

Media Contact | Nathan Seiuli | +64 21 485 449