4 ms·

>Incredible seeing democracies like Australia and NZ tell their own citizens “no, you cant come home”. To be fair, it's not their first dance with authoritaria

>Incredible seeing democracies like Australia and NZ tell their own citizens “no, you cant come home”. To be fair, it's not their first dance with authoritarian measures. Both countries also employ widespread censorship for movies and video games among other things. Perhaps it shouldn't be that unexpected that they would cross the line on this too.

m4x 5y ago
If there's widespread censorship then I assume you can give some supporting examples? The only notable "movie" that I'm aware of being censored in NZ was the live stream of the Christchurch mosque shooting that killed 51 people.
- syntheticcorp 5y ago
  Postal 2 and manhunt are two fairly popular video games that were legally censored. Banned modern movies I am less familiar with, but there were many banned historically where the decision still stands today.
- Aerroon 5y ago
  In New Zealand to publish a game or a movie you must have it go through the office of film and literature classification. If it is not classified then it is banned by default. One example of a relatively recent ban of something popular is the anime High School DxD. Ikki Tousen was also banned. They seem to ban a lot of Japanese made stuff. Postal 2 is a game that was explicitly refused classification. This doesn't just mean that selling the game is illegal - afaik possessing the game is also illegal. But ultimately what's banned isn't as important, because they're operating with a whitelist. Everything's banned by default until they get classified. If every country operated a system like that then it's likely most games and movies either wouldn't get published in NZ or would be published on a delay.
  - PostOnce 5y ago
    That's not true. https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/industry/exemptions-from-labelling-requirements/ https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/industry/exemptions... Most things are exempt. Nevertheless, the classifications should be voluntary and not legally binding IMO. They're absurdly capricious and incoherent as is, and stifling to free expression and the economy. e.g. illegal to give 1998's Shogun Total War strategy game to a 17 year old but can give Battlefield Bad Company to a five year old.
pikelet 5y ago
Cross the line? As a kiwi who got stuck in Peru for over 6 months due to the border closure and lack of flights, and had to go through MIQ when I was finally able to return, I'm extremely grateful for the MIQ system. Do I think it could have been handled better? Yes, especially recently as the answer to a lack of MIQ spaces shouldn't have been to make a lottery system it should have been to make more spaces; but overall I feel that NZ's response has been one of the few sane responses in the world and despite what I personally had to go through I'm very proud of that.
- josephcsible 5y ago
  This makes no sense at all. Your life would have been strictly easier if MIQ didn't exist, so why are you grateful for it?
  - throwaway788 5y ago
    Perhaps because over the course of the pandemic only 50 people have died in NZ from Covid. Going through MIQ and the systems built around it has enabled seeding events to be limited to only several incursions supporting elimination and then suppression strategies. It’s interesting, NZ is a very egalitarian society and it has been one of the strengths through the pandemic to date. People were/are willing to adhere to strict lockdowns (proper ones) or quarantine at the border because it was for the greater good of the entire society rather than ‘what was best’ for a handful of individuals.
    - refurb 5y ago
      Interestingly Singapore had no MIQ lottery or restriction and had about the same experience with Covid infections. The difference was, was that they didn’t fuck over their citizens when they tried to return - they did their best to accommodate them. But amazingly NZers are willing to give the government a pass on not altruism, but incompetence and violation of a right even Singaporeans enjoy.
  - shawabawa3 5y ago
    > This makes no sense at all. Your life would have been strictly easier if MIQ didn't exist, so why are you grateful for it? Some people have empathy for others and aren't purely selfish

m4x 5y ago

If there's widespread censorship then I assume you can give some supporting examples? The only notable "movie" that I'm aware of being censored in NZ was the live stream of the Christchurch mosque shooting that killed 51 people.

syntheticcorp 5y ago
Postal 2 and manhunt are two fairly popular video games that were legally censored. Banned modern movies I am less familiar with, but there were many banned historically where the decision still stands today.
Aerroon 5y ago
In New Zealand to publish a game or a movie you must have it go through the office of film and literature classification. If it is not classified then it is banned by default. One example of a relatively recent ban of something popular is the anime High School DxD. Ikki Tousen was also banned. They seem to ban a lot of Japanese made stuff. Postal 2 is a game that was explicitly refused classification. This doesn't just mean that selling the game is illegal - afaik possessing the game is also illegal. But ultimately what's banned isn't as important, because they're operating with a whitelist. Everything's banned by default until they get classified. If every country operated a system like that then it's likely most games and movies either wouldn't get published in NZ or would be published on a delay.
- PostOnce 5y ago
  That's not true. https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/industry/exemptions-from-labelling-requirements/ https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/industry/exemptions... Most things are exempt. Nevertheless, the classifications should be voluntary and not legally binding IMO. They're absurdly capricious and incoherent as is, and stifling to free expression and the economy. e.g. illegal to give 1998's Shogun Total War strategy game to a 17 year old but can give Battlefield Bad Company to a five year old.

pikelet 5y ago

Cross the line? As a kiwi who got stuck in Peru for over 6 months due to the border closure and lack of flights, and had to go through MIQ when I was finally able to return, I'm extremely grateful for the MIQ system. Do I think it could have been handled better? Yes, especially recently as the answer to a lack of MIQ spaces shouldn't have been to make a lottery system it should have been to make more spaces; but overall I feel that NZ's response has been one of the few sane responses in the world and despite what I personally had to go through I'm very proud of that.

josephcsible 5y ago
This makes no sense at all. Your life would have been strictly easier if MIQ didn't exist, so why are you grateful for it?
- throwaway788 5y ago
  Perhaps because over the course of the pandemic only 50 people have died in NZ from Covid. Going through MIQ and the systems built around it has enabled seeding events to be limited to only several incursions supporting elimination and then suppression strategies. It’s interesting, NZ is a very egalitarian society and it has been one of the strengths through the pandemic to date. People were/are willing to adhere to strict lockdowns (proper ones) or quarantine at the border because it was for the greater good of the entire society rather than ‘what was best’ for a handful of individuals.
  - refurb 5y ago
    Interestingly Singapore had no MIQ lottery or restriction and had about the same experience with Covid infections. The difference was, was that they didn’t fuck over their citizens when they tried to return - they did their best to accommodate them. But amazingly NZers are willing to give the government a pass on not altruism, but incompetence and violation of a right even Singaporeans enjoy.
- shawabawa3 5y ago
  > This makes no sense at all. Your life would have been strictly easier if MIQ didn't exist, so why are you grateful for it? Some people have empathy for others and aren't purely selfish