> It's not impossible for people in NZ to see these materials; academics, journalists and so on can apply for permits to obtain and possess the material. Absent

> It's not impossible for people in NZ to see these materials; academics, journalists and so on can apply for permits to obtain and possess the material. Absent that, possession is, as I understand it, a crime, but one with a very low chance of being caught. The primary intent of the law is to have a strong sanction to prevent people distributing it and inciting similar incidents in the future. This is not accurate. After the incident the NZ police were demanding that websites turn over IP logs for people accessing the manifesto or video, using that to get subscriber info from ISPs, and then attempting to imprison people for up to 14 years just for mere possession of illegal information [0]. And the idea that someone would have to get a license to see that material is just fundamentally offensive to the idea of free expression and access to information. For one, anyone who does journalism is a journalist, whether they have a Twitter account or a CNN primetime show. The NZ government should butt right out of attempting to gatekeep the profession that holds them to account. There is an overwhelming public interest in the populace being able to access that material, despite its extremely horrific and offensive nature. For one, it is evidence used to convict a man for multiple murders. A fundamental principle of a fair justice system is an open court system, and that means allowing people to access and examine the court transcripts and exhibits, including the videos and documents. It was also just an extremely newsworthy event that affected millions of people in New Zealand (public policy changes) and at least hundreds of millions worldwide [1]. It's quite Orwellian to cite this as the inciting incident for restricting the right of free expression and seizing firearms, while not even letting citizens examine the evidence first-hand! That's how we end up with crazy conspiracy theories about crisis actors. [0] - https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/397953/charges-laid-in-35-cases-over-sharing-of-video-of-christchurch-terror-attacks https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/397953/charges-laid-in-3... [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Call_to_Action_Summit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Call_to_Action_Su...