17.7 Government Communications Security Bureau
Did the Government Communications Security Bureau take any action in relation to right-wing extremist threats, including actual or planned acts of terrorism within New Zealand, before 15 March 2019?
No. Before 15 March 2019, the Government Communications Security Bureau was not tasked by any agency to conduct signals intelligence activities in relation to right-wing extremism.
Since 2016, all of the Government Communications Security Bureau’s counter-terrorism activities have been in response to being tasked by another agency (usually the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service). In accordance with this customer-led approach, the Government Communications Security Bureau does not “unilaterally undertake domestic counter-terrorism investigations” and does not “self-task or identify its own intelligence questions” for any counter-terrorism activity, domestic or international (see Part 8, chapter 7).
Did the Government Communications Security Bureau seek to have any extreme right-wing content removed from social media before 15 March 2019?
No. The Government Communications Security Bureau does not play a role in the reporting, filtering and removing extremist content online. This is because the identification, reporting and removal of extremist content from social media platforms is not an intelligence activity.
The removal of extremist content from social media is undertaken by the Department of Internal Affairs, organisations such as Netsafe or by social media organisations themselves.
Are social media accounts of people posting weaponry tracked?
No. Posting images of weaponry on social media is not an illegal activity.
The Government Communications Security Bureau told us it does “not monitor all of New Zealand’s social media activity or internet traffic” because it does not have the legal authority, technical means or resources to do so. No Public sector agency monitors all of New Zealand’s social media activity or other internet activity.