Tauranga Public Lecture - with Dr Rachel Tan

Regulating Online Hate Speech and Harmful Content in Aotearoa New Zealand: Beyond Criminalisation Towards a Statutory Duty of Care The proliferation of online hate speech and harmful content presents significant challenges for governments, regulators, and social media platforms worldwide. In Aotearoa New Zealand, existing legal responses have largely focused on criminalisation and individual accountability, raising important questions about whether these approaches adequately address the systemic nature of online harms. Drawing on Dr. Rachel Tans doctoral research, this lecture examines the limitations of existing legal frameworks and explores the case for a statutory duty of care as an alternative regulatory approach. It considers how greater accountability might be placed on social media platforms to identify, assess, and mitigate foreseeable harms, while safeguarding freedom of expression and other fundamental rights. Against the backdrop of ongoing debates about online safety regulation in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, the lecture invites reflection on how the law might move beyond reactive enforcement towards a more preventative and rights-conscious approach to online safety. Bio: Dr. Rachel Tan Dr. Rachel Tan is a Lecturer in Law (Cyber Law) at Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato. Her research focuses on cyber law, online harms, platform governance, digital regulation, and the legal implications of emerging technologies. She completed her PhD at the University of Waikato, examining the regulation of online hate speech and harmful content in Aotearoa New Zealand. She holds an LLM (First Class Honours) from the University of Waikato and an LLB from Bond University, Australia. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and international edited collections, and she regularly contributes to public discussions on cyber law through media engagement and professional collaboration. In 2025, she received the Vice-Chancellor's Medal for Staff Excellence, the Divisional Teaching Excellence Award, and the Early Career Academic Excellence Award.