New Zealand ‘Chief Censor’ Considers ‘Pushing Button’ to Ban Porn

As the country’s Children’s Minister Tracey Martin says she is looking for ways to stop what she calls an “avalanche of pornography” that she claims is “bombarding” New Zealand kids, the New Zealans Chief Censor now says that he has contemplated simply banning all porn from the country, according to a report by the New Zealand news site NewsHub. Unlike in the United States, where the First Amendment to the Constitution at least theoretically guarantees the right to free expression, government censorship has been routine in New Zealand since the mid-19th century. The country maintains a government office of the “Chief Censor,” who has traditionally been responsible for snipping out “naughty bits” from books, films and other media. But with satellites and the internet now allowing media from all over the globe to flow freely into New Zealand, as into almost every other country on the face of the Earth, current Chief Censor David Shanks sees his role, and that of the 15 censors who work for him, as to “monitor, research and guide,” according to the New Zealand news site Stuff.  "Our regulations were designed for a media environment that is totally different from what we're faced with today,” Shanks said in an interview earlier this week. “It does need to change." Last year, Shanks compiled a report stating that about 67 percent of 14- to 17-year-old New Zealand teens had already been exposed to porn, and 72 percent of those were “uncomfortable” with something they’d seen. In addition, 71 percent of young Kiwis said that they want to see some restrictions placed on porn. "I'm the chief censor. Imagine I've got a box with a button on it—a big red button,” Shanks said in a recnt TV interview. “If I push that button, I've terminated all access to pornography for everyone in this country. Should I push the button?” According to the NewsHub report, no one Shanks’ audience urged him to push the hypothetical button. Nonetheless, Martin told NewsHub that New Zealand is looking to the United Kingdom’s upcoming, much delayed “age verification” system as an example of the type of porn ban that could be implemented in New Zealand. But the U.K. law was supposed to take effect after several delays on July 15, as AVN.com reported. But the date was pushed back yet again, with no set day for when the system will go into effect. Photo by Time3000 / Wikimedia Commons