Facebook removes page for controversial anti-vax party Advance NZ — again

April 30, 2021

Party leaders Jami-Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika appear to still be on good terms.

Another Advance New Zealand Facebook page has been removed for violating the platform’s policies.

In a statement this morning, a Facebook spokesperson said the page was removed after another version of the party's Facebook profile was removed last year, just ahead of the election.

"When we remove pages for violating our policies, we don't allow them to circumvent this by creating new Facebook pages," the spokesperson said.

"We have removed Advance New Zealand Party’s Facebook page for violating this policy."

Advance New Zealand/the New Zealand Public Party's original page was removed from Facebook for repeatedly breaching the social media site's misinformation and harm policies. The party has garnered steady controversy for its anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown stances,

The party says the action by an American company has eroded free speech in New Zealand.

Last year, then-party co-leader Billy Te Kahika called Facebook's decision an attack on "free speech", adding he was "horrified beyond belief".

“Facebook’s decision to unpublish the page of a registered political party in New Zealand, two days before an election, is nothing short of election interference,” he said.

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