Free Speech Union plans hostile takeover of InternetNZ

And it could just be one part of a wider strategy to shape the public conversation

Photo by Ajay Suresh

In 2001 the systems theorist Stafford Beer coined the heuristic “the purpose of a system is what it does”

“[T]he purpose of a system is what it does. This is a basic dictum. It stands for bald fact, which makes a better starting point in seeking understanding than the familiar attributions of good intention, prejudices about expectations, moral judgment, or sheer ignorance of circumstances.”

The Free Speech Union (FSU) ostensibly exists to protect the right to free speech for all, regardless of identity or political persuasion. But what does the Free Speech Union do in practice? This year, they are organising several speaking tours. Earlier this year, they hosted James Lindsay, author of Cynical Theories and Race Marxism. Lindsey has called Critical Race Theory “just the tip of a 100-year long spear to infiltrate the United States with Marxist ideology.'" This conspiracy theory, known as ‘cultural Marxism’, posits that there is an attempt to undermine western civilisation by Marxist theorists. He’s also been credited with helping popularise the term “groomer” as a slur for the LGBT+ community.

Next they will host Musa al-Gharbi, author of We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Later is Michael Shellenberger, a University of Austin professor also known for his criticism of Critical Race Theory and “wokeism”, then Helen Joyce, the “gender critical” British author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality.

Each of these speakers is a deliberate choice. There is no shortage of cases where free speech is threatened around the world. In the United States, 300 foreign students have had visas revoked in a clampdown on pro-Palestine protest. Human Rights Watch has highlighted the politically motivated arrests of activists critical of the BJP government in India. In Hungary, the government has banned “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality in content available to minors, including in television, films, advertisements and literature, and forbids the public depiction of “gender deviating from sex at birth.”

Yet the FSU has organised and funded tours by individuals who share a particular worldview. The purpose of a system is what it does and the purpose of the Free Speech Union appears to be to act as an events management company for touring right-wing speakers.

But this isn’t all they are doing. Right now, the Free Speech Union is attempting a hostile takeover of InternetNZ Ipurangi Aotearoa. InternetNZ is funded by the registration of .nz domain names, and uses that money to provide funding opportunities and grants for New Zealanders to shape the Internet’s growth, development and use. Following a 2022 review into systemic racism in the organisation, InternetNZ plans to adopt a new constitution this year. The FSU has falsely claimed that this will lead to the censorship of domain names. InternetNZ president Stephen Judd clarified in a media release that “the constitutional review is about organisational governance and won’t change how domain names are managed or give InternetNZ any expanded powers over domain names”.

Members of the FSU have been joining InternetNZ en masse, and the organisation's membership has ballooned from less than 400 to close to 3000. These new members have not all come from the FSU, many are people joining to be able to stop the FSU’s takeover. Those who have been members for 90 days will be voting on the new constitution in the coming days, I encourage my readers to become members before midnight on March 31st in order to be able to vote at the annual general meeting in July, where the FSU is likely to be putting forward amendments.

The takeover of InternetNZ appears to be just one part of a wider strategy by the FSU to gain control of civil society institutions in order to give the same views they’ve promoted through speaking tours a wider audience. The FSU criticised the media companies NZME, Allied Press and the Stuff Group for not running advertisements from right wing lobby group Hobson’s Pledge; the anti-vaccine organisation Voices for Freedom; and ads from the “What is a woman?” campaign by conservative Christian outfit Family First.

The FSU has encouraged in particular Jim Grenon to purchase shares in NZME, which owns the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Grenon has been funding defamation cases on behalf of anti-vaccine influencer Chantelle Baker, and already runs two ‘news’ websites which Businessdesk describes as being closely aligned “with policy positions from the political right.” Businessdesk also notes that “Culture war and so-called ‘anti-woke’ topics also feature regularly on the website, including a keen focus on transgender issues.”

Regarding Grenon’s purchase of nearly 10% of NZME shares, Jonathan Ayling, chief executive of the Free Speech Union told The Post

“We were keen to encourage [that]. That's exactly what we do, we encourage those who share our concerns about the state of free speech and the plurality of voices in the Fourth Estate to take an active role on that.

“That's the extent to which we participated. Our conversations with Jim were significant in encouraging him to take the very significant stance that he did. But, obviously, it was him going, ‘Oh, I guess there's an opportunity here’.”

This strategy by the FSU could potentially lead to significant changes in the media landscape that could disproportionately impact on marginalised groups. While we can’t easily stop what’s happening at NZME, we can prevent InternetNZ from becoming an institution controlled by the FSU. Membership costs just $21 a year. It’s a worthwhile investment to protect one of our civil society organisations from an ideological takeover.