A misjudged decision by Parliament’s Clerk

Stuff announces:

The official New Zealand Parliament account has announced it will no longer be posting on X (formerly Twitter) – and Winston Peters isn’t happy about it.

Neither is Chris Bishop, not me.

The account, operated by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, previously posted on the social media platform to alert people when oral questions and answers were available on the parliamentary website, or when laws were given Royal Assent.

Clerk of the House David Wilson told Stuff he decided to put a stop the practice, as he could no longer support the platform.

“I stopped it because of the news I had seen about the way X’s AI chatbot Grok can be used to generate deepfake nudes and child exploitation material,” he said.

This was a hasty decision, and I submit the wrong one. First of all the focus should be on serving the public. With rare exceptions, you should go where the public are.

There were 35,000 following the NZ Parliament account on X. The crowd on X are very focused on politics. People on Facebook are there for many different reasons, but people on X are there for current events etc.

Yes Grok had a week or so when people could ask it to change photos to put people in bikinis etc. That was distasteful and was stopped after a few days. X terms of service prohibit nudes and child abuse material.

All platforms have some distasteful content. Go to Bluesky after Charlie Kirk was killed and there were so many people celebrating, it was sickening.

Almost all NZ MPs have X accounts and many are regular posters there. It seems bizarre that the official Parliament account won’t post there, yet most MPs do. The decision has a white of moral superiority.

Since Elon Musk purchased X, it has been a platform which has more centre right voices than previously. You used to get banned for using the wrong pronouns, but no longer. However it also still has many many prominent left wing voices. Other platforms like Bluesky are overwhelmingly only populated by people with left wing views.

So while it was not intentional, the impact of the decision by the Clerk actually has a partisan impact. It cuts off easy access to Parliament for people on X.

I hope the decision is reconsidered and reversed.

Liam Hehir also makes good points about a better course of action:

• He would first have prepared a formal, neutral assessment setting out the operational risks and statutory considerations, consistent with his duty to manage the Office with integrity, efficiency and concern for the public interest. 
• He would then have referred that assessment to the Speaker, to whom he is responsible for the management of the Office and who occupies the central governance role in Parliament’s institutional administration. 
• As the issue carries wider institutional or symbolic implications, the Speaker should have tested it through an appropriate collective forum such as the Business Committee, which the Speaker convenes and chairs and which operates on a cross-party basis.

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