While they have their suspicions about who might be behind the posts, they can’t prove it because users on the forum aren’t required to use their real names.
Some of the posts, which are all live on a subpage of the website called r/NZtrees, where users generally share tips on how to grow cannabis, are almost three years old.
The case is being heard in the Palmerston North District Court, where Cozens and Eales have sought an order for Reddit to take down the posts, to publish a correction and to give the pair a right of reply in a way the court determines.
All these remedies are available to the court under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
Cozens and Eales are also seeking an order that Reddit tell the court who the anonymous posters are, however, such an order can only be made to an Internet Protocol Address Provider (IPAP), also known as an Internet Service Provider.
Their application did not identify a specific IPAP that would be subject to the order if it were to be made by the court.
At a hearing on the matter held in March, Cozens told the court that Reddit was operating in New Zealand, but had no physical office in the country as far as he was aware.
“If Reddit is doing nothing to allow these posts to continue ... then how are we allowing them to operate in New Zealand?” he asked.
“In the meantime, my business is suffering, and people have lost their jobs.”
Judge Stephanie Edwards advised at that hearing that there was an extent to which New Zealand law could apply overseas.
“There are plenty of companies that operate here that aren’t based here,” she said.
Following the hearing, Judge Edwards ordered that a technical adviser be appointed to assess the feasibility of the orders Cozens and Eales were seeking and how realistic it would be to enforce those orders.
Today, the case returned to court and lawyers for Reddit submitted that it had proactively removed nine of the posts which they considered had violated its rules.
However, they advised that others remained up and Reddit would not be disclosing the identities of its users.
Judge Edwards offered Cozens the opportunity to withdraw his claim on the basis that Reddit had removed some of the posts and warned him that if he lost in court, he’d be liable to pay legal fees.
Cozens, who is self-represented, said he understood the potential consequences and opted to continue his case.
The court’s technical adviser returned his report, but only 10 minutes before the hearing began.
Given the parties and the judge had limited time to consider the report, Judge Edwards scheduled another hearing for a later date.
Cozens asked what would happen in the meantime and claimed that he would continue to be the subject of abuse on the website.
He claimed he was getting “hammered daily” by these kinds of posts and Reddit doesn’t do anything about it.
“The post is absolutely disgusting. I’m getting this daily, they’re not.”
Reddit’s lawyers offered to provide Cozens with a direct email to help him report posts and comments on the site.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
