Terms and Conditions: User submitted content and comments
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
We (Stuff Limited or Stuff Digital Limited) invite our readers (you) to post comments and profile information in a number of areas of our websites.
These include but are not limited to the comments sections of stories published on the websites and user submitted content. If you submit any material to the website, these terms and conditions apply.
Comments are not a reflection of the views of Stuff. The views expressed in the comments areas are not our views or opinions, nor the views or opinions of any of our staff or our related entities. We accept no liability in respect of any material posted in the comments areas, nor are we responsible for the content and accuracy of that material.
If you place reliance on material posted on these websites you do so at your own risk, and you indemnify us (and our related entities) from any liabilities, claims, costs, loss (including consequential loss) or damage suffered or caused by reason of your reliance on any material posted in the comments areas.
Please direct any questions or comments about this policy to comments@stuffdigital.co.nz, after reading the policy and the FAQ below in full.
Comment policy
Stuff welcomes comments from readers on our websites.
We invite you to discuss issues and share your views. We encourage robust debate and criticism provided it is civil. But our comment section is a moderated online discussion, not a public forum.
We reserve the right to reject comments, images or links that:
are offensive or obscene;
contain objectionable or profane language - including use of symbols (we maintain a list of banned obscenities and comments featuring those words will be automatically rejected);
include personal attacks of any kind (including name-calling; insults; mocking the subjects of stories or other readers; or abusing Stuff journalists or contributors);
are discriminatory or express prejudice on the basis of race, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, sexuality, religion, or disability;
constitute harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment;
are body-shaming;
contain spam or include links to other sites;
are deliberate lies, misinformation or attempts to mislead. While we cannot review all comments for accuracy, we reserve the right to reject comments we consider, on the balance of probabilities, to be deliberate falsehoods or unsubstantiated rumours;
impersonate an individual or organisation, are fraudulent, defamatory of any person, threatening or invasive of another's privacy or otherwise illegal;
are trolling or threatening;
advocate or endorse violence, vigilantism or law breaking;
infringe on copyrights or trademarks;
are self-promoting;
violate the law or breach court-ordered suppressions or have the potential to breach future suppressions; or constitute a contempt of court or that contain details of cases and individuals before the courts;
violate our terms and conditions for user generated content;
promote, advertise or solicit the sale of any goods or services;
deny anthropogenic climate change;
deny the Holocaust;
are in a language other than English or te reo Māori, except for foreign words in popular usage eg touche, bona fide, tour de force etc;
Usernames and the use of disposable email addresses to set up accounts are also bound by these Terms and Conditions. Offensive usernames and accounts created using disposable email accounts will be banned when discovered on our site as part of these T’s & C’s. Using your real name and a non-disposable email address is preferred best practice.
We reserve the right to cut, crop, edit or refuse to publish your content. We may remove your content from use at any time. Our comment technology uses AI to assess posts for language that is commonly considered toxic, abusive or in breach of community guidelines. Some comments may be automatically moderated as a result.
With rare exceptions, we will not usually enable comments on stories concerning:
1080
allegations of criminality or misconduct
animal cruelty
beneficiaries
Christchurch mosque shootings of March 2019
court cases
domestic violence
fluoride
funerals
immigrants or refugees
Israel and Palestine
Kashmir
missing people
personal accounts of abortion
race
sexual orientation
suicide
Treaty of Waitangi
transgender issues
vaccination
vulnerable children
Comments are limited to 900 characters in length.
Our rights
We retain the right and discretion (but not the obligation) to edit, delete, reject or remove any comment which you post or seek to post.
You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence to republish any material you submit to us, without limitation, in any format.
It is our policy not to remove stories from the website and user submissions published more than 12 months ago will not be edited. If there are particular issues with a submission you would like to discuss, email newsroom@stuff.co.nz.
We retain the right and discretion to terminate your account if we believe you are abusing the services in any way, or have breached these terms and conditions. Commenters who repeatedly or egregiously breach our terms and conditions or post offensive comments may find their username has been permanently blocked. Users who post illegal material or hate speech may have their details - including IP addresses - reported to authorities.
You consent to our collecting and storing your email and IP address for security and administrative purposes. This includes allowing our editorial team to contact you via the provided email address for editorial purposes, such as verifying information or potential inclusion in a news story.
Your obligations
In addition to adhering to the comment policy detailed above, you will not post any material:
Which is not original work in which you own the copyright, or which in any way violates or infringes (or could reasonably be expected to violate or infringe) the copyright, identity, registered trademark or intellectual property rights of another person;
Which is (or could reasonably be expected to be) obscene, offensive, pornographic, vulgar, profane, indecent or otherwise illegal;
Which is (or could reasonably be expected to be) defamatory of any person;
Which racially or religiously vilifies, incites violence or hatred, or is likely to offend, insult or humiliate others based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation or any physical or mental disability; or
Which you know or suspect (or ought reasonably to have known or suspected) to be false, misleading or deceptive.
You will not use the comment or profile areas for the purpose of:
advertising, promoting or soliciting any goods or services, or otherwise engaging in trade or commerce; or
providing any financial advice, or advice of any kind in relation to any financial product.
Indemnities
You agree to fully indemnify and hold us (and our related entities) harmless against any liabilities, claims, costs, loss (including consequential loss) or damage incurred as a result of any material you post in the comments areas, or as a result of any breach by you of these terms and conditions.
Notwithstanding any indemnity provided by you under these terms and conditions, we and/or our related entities retain the right to assume the conduct of any defence to a claim brought against us, and of any proceeding or appeal issued by us, and you agree to provide all reasonable cooperation (including by making available relevant documents) that we may require from you in relation to any such claim, proceeding or appeal.
Additional Terms and Conditions
All content that you submit or display on our websites is subject at all times to the Website Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Governing law
These terms and conditions shall be construed and applied in accordance with the laws of New Zealand, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand Courts to determine any matter or dispute which arises under these terms and conditions in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.
Comments on social media
We stopped all activity on Meta-owned Facebook in July 2020 in a trial 'inspired by principle'. You can read more on that here. Stuff Group withdrew from Twitter/X in October 2023. You can read more on that here.
TikTok
We take a moderation-first approach on TikTok, meaning all comments are reviewed before publishing. This is to filter inappropriate comments that may be posted on our videos that we feel breach our internal guidelines or may be deemed offensive, inappropriate or sensitive.
We reserve the right to delete offensive comments or those which breach our rules or TikTok's community standards.
We welcome viewers to discuss issues and share their views and we encourage robust debate and criticism - we just want it to be civil.
We also reserve the right to block people who engage in distasteful, offensive, trolling or spamming content. Blocked people won't be able to see or engage with our content on TikTok. If you have been blocked and would like to know why, email newsroom@stuff.co.nz.
YouTube
We have two YouTube channels – Stuff New Zealand and Stuff Travel.
Comments on Stuff New Zealand are moderated before being published. Comments are published if they meet Stuff's guidelines and aren't offensive, inappropriate or spam.
Frequently Asked Questions for comments on Stuff:
Do I have to use my real name?
Commenting under your real name is not required, but is encouraged. We hope readers who comment under their real names, rather than a pseudonym, are more likely to engage in intelligent, respectful discussions and debate.
Do you edit comments?
No. Comments are reviewed against our Terms and Conditions and either approved or rejected.
Why do you let other people's mean comments through but not mine?
It's ok to disagree with the subject matter of a story, as long as your comment is well thought out and adds value to the debate. Bear in mind, your comment must meet our terms and conditions for publication.
Why has it taken so long for my comment to appear?
We receive thousands of comments every day. They are manually moderated by our (human) editors, in addition to other duties. While we try to get through them as quickly as possible, at peak times there can be a delay between when your comment is posted and when it is published to the website.
Why are comments not open on certain stories?
We reserve the right to decide which stories we open comments on. A range of factors might inform that decision - including staff resourcing and the topic of the story.
When considering the topic, we'll be particularly mindful whether the story is likely to elicit a high volume of comments that would breach our terms and conditions. For instance, we rarely open comments on stories about court proceedings or other legally contentious topics.
Why can't I add a comment to an existing thread?
In order to keep comments at a manageable level for our editors, when readers have had fair and reasonable opportunity to discuss or debate a particular news story, the ability to comment will be switched off - at which point we will move to newer discussions.
We appreciate this means some threads may not be active as long as you would like them to, but is the only way we can realistically maintain a civil comments community.
Why are my comments never approved?
Provided your comment meets our terms and conditions, it will be approved for publishing to the Stuff website. Readers who repeatedly or egregiously breach our terms and conditions or post offensive comments may find their username has been permanently blocked.
Can I criticise Stuff?
We welcome strong opinions and critique of our work and critical comments of the article in question will be approved. However, we will not approve any comments which attack our staff or contributors, or which are abusive of the subjects of stories.
Comments which discuss or critique our moderation policy will be considered off-topic and rejected.
Why did you reject my comment calling you out for fake news?
We consider that term trolling.
Why did you reject my comment about the climate change conspiracy?
Stuff accepts the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by human activity. We welcome robust debate about the appropriate response to climate change, but do not intend to provide a venue for denialism or hoax advocacy. The Media Council has ruled on this, stating: 'The Statement of Principles preamble also states that publications have the right to adopt a forthright stance or to advocate on any issue. Stuff is well within its rights to adopt such an approach, particularly since it has advised its readers it is doing so.' You can read the decision in full here.
Another user's offensive comment has been approved, what can I do?
If there is a comment posted by another user which you feel is in breach of our T&Cs and should not have been approved, please email comments@stuffdigital.co.nz to let us know.
Where you believe a comment posted by another user which breaches one or more of the Digital Communications Principles set out in the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, you may lodge a complaint by emailing comments@stuffdigital.co.nz. Where you have submitted a valid complaint, Stuff will respond within 48 hours. You can find more information on the Harmful Digital Communications Act here.
I want to link to an external site, why won't you approve it?
We do not allow links to websites, with the exception of Stuff articles or Govt-owned domains, or for the duration of the election period websites of political parties. This is as much as to protect our readers from malicious / pornographic websites as it is to protect Stuff's reputation.
I want to talk about Donald Trump. Why didn't my comment pass moderation?
Comments must be related to the article and the debate. Anything that goes off topic will be rejected.
You are welcome to write us an opinion piece of 300 words or more.
Did you reject my comment because you're in thrall to Christopher Luxon?
No.