Govt accused of ‘fear-mongering'
A Dunedin Youth MP has accused the government of using "fear-mongering" language to pressure them into changing their speeches.
An email from the Ministry of Youth Development sent to one Youth MP, seen by the Otago Daily Times, said they "had to make some changes" to ensure their speech remained politically neutral, did not breach defamation and other laws, followed the principles of "no naming, no blaming, no shaming" and did not make false assertions unsupported by facts.
While the subject line said "changes required", a follow-up email told the Youth MP "it is your choice how you use that feedback".
"You are the one stepping up to speak and we fully respect your right to shape your speech in the way that feels right to you.
"We simply ask that you consider the feedback in the spirit it is intended, which is to support you."
Youth MP for Francisco Hernandez Jomana Moharram, of Dunedin, said the ministry's feedback process was "fear-mongering" and was phrased in such a way as to create the "threat" of being sued for defamation.
The process did not come across as though the ministry was trying to protect Youth MPs from a defamation suit, she said.
"And that's not the effect that it had for a lot of people who ... ended up rewriting their speech.
"They ended up having the threat in the back of their mind of this is going to be online forever, or I'm going to be sued."
Ingrid Leary's Youth MP, Zenah Taha, of Dunedin, said she had heard from others the changes they had been asked to make "really impacted their speech and their freedom to express their opinion".
A lot of Youth MPs were "quite displeased", Ms Taha said.
But she understood where the ministry was coming from.
"Some speeches may come off as quite blunt and they definitely do have to be checked, because it's standard procedure."
Youth Minister James Meager said no Youth MP speeches were censored and the ministry's suggested changes "were just recommendations for the young people to consider".
"However, [the ministry] acknowledges that the recent feedback received from some of the young people is that this was not as clear as it could've been in every instance."
The ministry followed the same protocol as it did for Youth Parliament 2022, under the previous government.
Speeches were reviewed to ensure they were consistent with guidance and changes were recommended in some cases, Mr Meager said.
"But the speech they choose to stand up and deliver was up to them."
Youth MPs were not protected by parliamentary privilege and the ministry reviewed speeches to identify any aspects "which could get them into legal strife which the Youth MPs may be unaware of", he said.
"This review is not about changing the content of their speeches — it's about being responsible organisers for an event which is predominantly made-up of minors."
tim.scott@odt.co.nz
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