Free Speech Union Election 2026: David Seymour (ACT) on blasphemy laws and regulators

ACT leader David Seymour says sections 61 and 131 of the Human Rights Act "really ought to be gone", and that ACT has "no intention of ever supporting blasphemy laws". In this pre-election interview with Free Speech Union Executive Director Jillaine Heather, the Deputy Prime Minister commits to legislation stopping professional regulators from punishing lawful speech, and explains ACT's opposition to National's under-16 social media bill and the online regulator that comes with it. He'd consider banning smartphone sales to under-16s instead. He also wants the Harmful Digital Communications Act's tests made objective, because right now they're so subjective "you can drive a bus through them". Free Speech Union Election 2026: we invited every party in Parliament to talk free speech before the election. ACT, National and NZ First said yes. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori declined or did not respond. Watch the interview on YouTube: [YouTube link] Sign the No Blasphemy Laws petition: https://noblasphemylaw.nz Tell regulators to stick to their knitting: https://licensetospeak.nz Join the Free Speech Union: https://www.fsu.nz/join Promoted by Free Speech Union, PO Box 91811, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142 Support the show https://www.fsu.nz/ https://x.com/NZFreeSpeech https://www.instagram.com/freespeechnz/ https://www.tiktok.com/@freespeechunionnz