IR-01-24-32069
4 October 2024
James
[FYI request #28322 email]
Tēnā koe James
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 7 September 2024. You
requested information related to Police monitoring of social media.
Please see below a response to each of your questions.
From January 1st 2024 to September 7th 2024, how many visits/checks have police
conducted concerning social media posts?
How many of these have visits/checks have resulted in follow up attendance?
Police conduct visits for many reasons. While in some instances Police may conduct visits on
receiving information about social media posts of concern, this information is not recorded in
Police’s centralised systems. To obtain this information would involve extracting all instances of
such visits and manually reviewing these to determine whether a visit occurred as a direct result
of a social media post, efforts which would not necessarily yield an accurate total. I am therefore
refusing these parts of your request under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information is not
held by Police and Police has no reason to believe it is held by another agency.
How many of these checks/visits occurred where the person/people concerned held a
firearms license? Specifical y in Auckland?
Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority has advised that if there were concerns about the fit
and proper status of a firearms licence holder based solely on their social media posts, a fit and
proper assessment would be made. That assessment may lead to words of advice, such as a
warning letter issued, or in severe cases, suspension or revocation. If there was an escalation in
terms of rhetoric following a warning, the matter may be reconsidered for further regulatory
action. As in al cases, these matters are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and on occasion,
engaging with the firearms licence holder in person to understand, clarify and resolve the
situation is the right approach.
However, this data is not recorded in the Police system in a way that is easily retrievable, and to
provide the number of checks and/or visits in relation to firearms licence holders who had come
to Police attention due to their social media posts would require a manual search of each file in
Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
the Police National Intel igence Application (NIA). Therefore, this part of your request is refused
under section 18(g) of the OIA.
How many checks/visits relating to social media posts were carried out just in Auckland
during this period? Number of fol ow up visits?
As outlined above, Police does not record details of visits which have taken place solely due to
social media posts on either a district or national level. I am therefore refusing this part of your
request under section 18(g) of the OIA.
How many police personnel if any, currently monitor social media posts on a full time
basis?
Please provide the number of staff if any, employed to monitor social media on a year
by year basis since 2017.
Police does not employ any staff on a full-time basis for the sole purpose of monitoring social
media. A number of Police staff employed in national and district teams conduct research on
social media, however this takes place in response to a specific reported issue. Police also has
staff in the Media and Communications team responsible for creating content for and
moderating Police social media accounts. However, they are not responsible for monitoring
social media outside of comments on Police’s account and are not tasked with investigating
online behaviour.
How many notices to inspect firearms have been issued and executed in the time
period above in Auckland?
In terms of inspections of firearms, the one instance where this could occur is when a permit to
import a new arms item is made. Te Tari Pūreke may request that item to be sent to the Police
Armourer for inspection. This enables the item to be classified in accordance with New Zealand
legislation.
However, aside from this one circumstance, I can advise that Police do not issue notices to
inspect firearms. I am therefore refusing this part of your request under section 18(g) of the OIA
as the information is not held by Police and Police has no reason to believe it is held by another
agency.
How many complaints concerning social media posts have police received on a year by
year basis since 2017?
Police does not keep specific records of complaints in relation to social media posts.
I am therefore refusing this part of your request under section 18(g) of the OIA for the reasons
outlined above.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied with the
response to your request. Information about how to make a complaint is available at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Yours sincerely
Dan Wildy PhD
Director National Intelligence
New Zealand Police
