An influential Chinese-language media outlet in New Zealand warned its users their information could be shared with 'relevant state agencies' if they violated Chinese laws

A popular news site could be exposing New Zealanders to Chinese state surveillance, Newsroom can reveal.

The revelation raises questions about the role of media in alleged foreign interference activity in Aotearoa and has prompted calls for stronger regulation.

Skykiwi.com promotes itself as New Zealand’s “most influential” Chinese-language media outlet, with half a million ‘daily average user visits’ to its multi-platform website. Besides providing news coverage, the site also runs message boards where a variety of topics, including current affairs, are discussed. It claims to have 81,000 daily forum users.

Until July, the terms of service for these forums contained clauses forbidding speech on a range of topics and said that users who violate Chinese laws in their postings could have their information shared with “relevant state agencies,” indicating China’s intelligence apparatus would be able to potentially identify them. It also meant criticism of China’s ruling Communist Party was all but banned.

"According to the laws of China and New Zealand, this community [i.e. Skykiwi] is obliged to immediately stop transmission, save relevant records, report to relevant state agencies, and delete addresses, directories, or shut down servers that contain the content."

China has some of the world’s most restrictive laws on dissent in the digital realm, which can be enforced against its citizens even if they posted content while overseas. This means that Chinese nationals in this country or Chinese New Zealanders who may wish to visit the mainland in the future could be at risk of legal action for criticising the Chinese Communist Party on the pages of a New Zealand website.

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A list of forbidden conduct on the forum, as seen last month, includes “leaking state secrets”, “damaging national honour and interests”, “undermining national unity”, inciting “subversion of state power”, "undermining national policies" and promoting “cults”. Virtually identical wording was discovered on the terms of service for China’s state-backed social media platform WeChat and a list of “prohibited content” outlined by the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

Skykiwi did not respond to emailed queries about its forum’s terms of service when initially approached for this story in July.

But after the questions were sent, Newsroom found that the page was updated, with the line about Chinese laws removed and replaced with a reference to “two countries,” suggesting that the text was curated but the policy had not changed.

“When analysts accuse the PRC of trying to export their authoritarian model of governance, this is what they mean: creating spaces within other countries which subject citizens to PRC standards which serve to protect the interests of the Chinese Communist Party."

At least three of the terms – leaking state secrets, subversion of state power and undermining national unity – appear to be references to respective laws that have been used to suppress rights in China. The use of these restrictions suggests that Skykiwi may be hoping to keep its website accessible to users in the Chinese mainland, where it might otherwise be blocked if freer speech on its forums were permitted.

Dr Nathan Attrill, a New Zealand academic lecturing in Chinese foreign policy at the Australian National University, told Newsroom the language used in Skykiwi’s terms of use “mirrors almost exactly the types of legal restrictions placed on media outlets and social media websites in Mainland China”.

The terms used were all euphemisms regularly employed by the CCP to shape debate about sensitive issues, he said. These included policies related to Tibet and Xinjiang as well as the spiritual practice Falun Gong, which is banned in China.

“When analysts accuse the PRC of trying to export their authoritarian model of governance, this is what they mean: creating spaces within other countries which subject citizens to PRC standards which serve to protect the interests of the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.

Concerns have been raised in the past about other Chinese-language media outlets in New Zealand. In 2019, Newsroom reported that experts had identified the Chinese New Zealand Herald website as a propaganda outlet for the Chinese government, based on an investigation into its operational structure and Chinese state internet and security permits.

Canterbury University professor Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on Chinese influence operations, told Newsroom media regulations were due for an update.

“Now we know that NZ Chinese media sites are using PRC law to censor discussion of NZ citizens and residents on their websites,” she said.

“The question is, what is the NZ Government going to do about it? Our media laws and governing institutions are already weak, and they are totally un-resourced and un-prepared to deal with foreign interference and foreign-state censorship.”

Brady said the Government should pass laws requiring the registration of foreign agents, as well as hiring Chinese-speaking staff for the Electoral Commission to better monitor such issues.

New Zealand First leader and former foreign affairs minister Winston Peters also agreed further regulation was needed, telling Newsroom Skykiwi’s terms of service amounted to “an infringement on our principles and values of free speech”.

“The reality is we’re talking about a utility operating out of New Zealand but not complying with our standards, our values of free speech.”

In a statement, Broadcasting and Media Minister Kris Faafoi told Newsroom that while the Government did not interfere in the operational decisions of New Zealand media, "there is an expectation that they maintain high standards regarding accuracy, balance and fairness, and comply with relevant laws".

As Skykiwi was a member of the New Zealand Media Council, any unresolved complaints could be referred to that body for a decision.

Faafoi said the Government also had work programmes underway in response to the broader issues raised. A review was underway into the regulatory regime for media content, while "we are constantly reviewing our safeguards to ensure we have the right tools to respond to potential issues of foreign interference".

Skykiwi did not respond to multiple requests for comment, both in July and this month.