Martin, who became an MP in 2011, said she "wouldn't be surprised" if the Labour Party used similar tactics to sway voters, but NZ First didn't have the numbers to "run a game like that".
The closest thing would be the "talkback army" that Martin used to organise in the 2011 campaign.
"We used to get people to ring up talk back and raise policy issues that we had policy on," Martin said.
She clarified through a spokesman today that the talkback army was about making sure party supporters were well-informed about policy and had a voice in the debate.
It was "standard practice" for most parties and "completely different to personal attacks", the spokesman said.
An email about the talkback army, published on right-leaning website Kiwiblog, said:
"A select group of New Zealand First members will be continually updated by email with policy positions and topical information that they can use to keep the Radio Listening public of New Zealand well informed.
"Play your part in the 2011 Election Campaign. Join our Talkback Army."
The spokesman added that Martin's speech to Netsafe was about good and bad behaviour on the internet, and was not aimed at scoring political points.
Martin believed that online trolling was behaviour that no one should be subjected to, the spokesman said.
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth said that Labour had not engaged in any online trolling to try and sway voters, and its digital strategy in the 2017 campaign was deliberately focused on positive messages.
He said tactics such as posting negative comment on the online pages of other political parties would ultimately reflect badly on those making the posts.
When asked about Martin's comments, National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett told the Herald earlier this week that it was "an unusual accusation for a minister to make".
"Perhaps she should focus on NZ First's problems and doing her job instead," Bennett said.
She later tweeted about the story.
