Far North Mayor Moko Tepania blocks racist comments on council Facebook page

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania.

By Peter de Graaf at RNZ

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says his council has drawn “a line in the sand” after a barrage of vitriol and racist comments on social media.

Tepania said racist comments were now being deleted immediately from the council’s Facebook page and the accounts posting them were being blocked.

The mayor said racist commentary on social media was nothing new, but the issue came to a head with a post inviting community groups to apply for funding for Matariki events.

Tepania said that unleashed a torrent of vitriol and racist commentary that would not be tolerated.

“I just assumed that everyone understands the social values of respect and what is appropriate to say or not say. But obviously people don’t. And so we have come out as a council to redraw the line in the sand, so that people understand that we, as an organisation, are not going to stand any objectionable or racist comments across our platforms, and people will be banned or blocked should they put them across,” he said.

Tepania said it was not about stopping people expressing genuine views.

“As an organisation we always welcome community feedback. We welcome people challenging some of the decisions we make. We welcome people engaging in our council processes and letting us know their thoughts, but we will not tolerate it when it’s racially motivated or condemns people who live in this community.”

Tepania said community groups were regularly invited to apply to the council’s three community boards for funding to organise public events.

He said there was no outcry when people were invited to apply for funding for Anzac Day commemorations or Christmas parades.

“But because this one was for Matariki, and Matariki is for every single New Zealander, we saw all this commentary come through and it was unacceptable. It was racist and it’s nothing I would want the tamariki in my whānau to read or be victimised by.

“So we had to come out very strongly to say that as a council, we live by our values of professionalism and manaakitanga [care for others] and integrity, and we expect our community to also have values that will ensure that they are respectful of one another and all the cultures in the Far North.”

Some commenters stated they did not want their rates spent on Māori, but Tepania said past Matariki-Puanga events in the Far North had been enjoyed by large numbers of people from all cultural backgrounds.

Tepania said he had noticed a steady increase in racist commentary, and not just on the council’s Facebook page.

He believed it was driven by national narratives around, for example, Māori wards and the Treaty Principles Bill, which had emboldened some people to share racist views.

Tepania said when staff looked into the accounts posting the comments, they were often anonymous or hid their identity in other ways.

“We’re just blocking them now. We’re not going to stand for it if you’re going to be racist or rude or try to defame anyone … you’re going to be blocked and your comments are going to be deleted.”

At the same time, however, Tepania said he had seen a “huge increase” in constructive communication and engagement from the Far North community, which was something to be celebrated.

Asked if he had anything to say to social media’s keyboard warriors, Tepania said: “My message for anybody who is coming from a place of misunderstanding or ignorance is that our cultural values are always open to everybody, and it’s never too late to learn.

“So if you have a specific problem with Māori or, say, Matariki, te ao Māori [the Māori world] is open to you for you to learn all about it so you can move beyond ignorance and misunderstanding ... If you’re willing to learn, open yourself up to it. If you’re not, then you’re just going to be blocked and deleted.”

Increase in negative, bullying remarks

Council community and engagement group manager Ruben Garcia said social media had increasingly become a channel for expressing negative, ill-informed or bullying remarks, often anonymously.

He said the communications team actively monitored comments for breaches of the page rules, and in the case of the Matariki funding post, was forced to turn off commenting.

“We remove content featuring offensive or threatening language, defamatory or demonstrably false statements, and language that expresses hostility on the grounds of colour, race, or national origins,” Garcia said.

“Unfortunately, we have seen a noticeable increase in comments specifically targeting Māori.

“As an organisation, we unequivocally reject discrimination and racism. I have instructed staff to strictly enforce our page rules by removing objectionable comments and banning repeat offenders.”