‘You will not censor me’: Sean Plunket hits back after BSA looks to widen remit

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

Provocative broadcaster Sean Plunket has taken aim at the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) after revealing it’s looking to widen its remit to include online media networks.

As it stands, the authority has only considered complaints about programmes on TV and radio, along with online and on-demand content that has previously been broadcast.

That has meant media outlets like online broadcaster The Platform, which Plunket founded and is a host on, have avoided the same scrutiny levelled at traditional broadcasters.

This followed a complaint lodged against The Platform pertaining to comments made on July 22 that a complainant said were “racist”.

Plunket responded to the complainant: “You plonker, we aren’t subject to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.”

But in a monologue on his programme on Wednesday morning, Plunket disclosed details of a draft decision by the BSA, verified by The Post, in which it said it “considered The Platform was broadcasting when airing the relevant content”, and would therefore “consider the authority has jurisdiction and is therefore required to consider the complaint”.

It’s understood this is the first time the BSA is considering a formal complaint about an online broadcaster.

It has given The Platform until late November to provide submissions on its decision.

In its draft decision, shared by Plunket on The Platform, the BSA concluded it had jurisdiction to consider the complaint “on the basis the transmission of the programme met the Broadcasting Act’s definition of ‘broadcasting’”.

It later added: “While this type of broadcasting may not have been contemplated when these provisions were drafted … legislation applies to circumstances as they arise.”

Plunket told The Post he didn’t think the authority was able to do that.

“If this were to stand, they would potentially be able to apply broadcasting standards and take and investigate complaints on anyone who put anything on the internet,” he said.

“I have told them, I've written to them, and I've said, ‘I do not recognise your authority. I will not take part in your bogus complaints procedure.’ I will hold the individual members of the BSA, and the BSA collectively, responsible for any damage financial or otherwise that I or my company suffer as a result of their actions.”

Plunket said that if anybody took issue with content promulgated by The Platform they already had an avenue for complaint, that being the courts.

“I'm accountable to public opinion, to how many people listen, and I'm accountable in the civil courts and criminal courts for anything I say, or do, they bring it to the law just like anyone else.”

Plunket predicted there will be a movement - “perhaps within days” - in favour of rejecting the BSA entirely.

“You will not censor me, and you will not rob me, my hosts, my audience and my guests of their rights under the Bill of Rights of association and freedom of speech,” said Plunket.

While the BSA would not comment on the specifics of the draft decision, noting it was still under consideration, the authority’s chief executive Stacey Wood told The Post it was acting within the bounds of the Broadcasting Act.

“The definition of ‘broadcaster’ and ‘broadcasting’ in the Act isn’t limited to TV or radio – it talks about programmes transmitted to the public by any means of telecommunication,” she said.

“Our position on this isn’t new. In 2019 we announced we were fully reviewing our jurisdiction to apply a modern interpretation of broadcasting. In 2020 we paused that review, partly due to announcements that our legislation would soon be updated. The best and clearest solution lies in legislative reform of media regulation, which we’ve called for for over 15 years.”

Wood said as this was the first “formal complaint” it had received about an online broadcaster, the authority “must act”.

“We don’t have – nor seek – the power to censor media. Our interest is in ensuring the public have access to accurate, reliable media content, and a regulator they can turn to if they think standards are breached,” she said.

“Far from shutting down free speech, freedom of expression is at the heart of every BSA decision.”

Plunket believed the authority would be setting a worrying precedent if it adjusted its jurisdiction, noting political parties regularly share speeches on social media and that the online media landscape has expanded.

Broadcasting Minister Paul Goldsmith, he said, would be in a difficult position.

“Because they will bullshit that this is an operational matter. I would argue it's far more fundamental than that,” Plunket said.

Goldsmith, via a spokesperson, later told The Post: “As minister I cannot comment on operational matters or individual cases.

“However, my officials will be keeping me updated due to the potential impacts on media regulation.”

But one MP willing to wade in was New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who on social media described the BSA as acting “like some Soviet-era stasi”.

He continued: “The blatant overreach on display by the BSA now dictating they can censor and monitor anything transmitted on the internet is highly concerning.”

The Platform was established in 2022 following Plunket’s removal from defunct talk radio network MagicTalk.

Since then, other online brands built around former mainstream media figures have become more prevalent, such as the Dom Harvey Show podcast and Reality Check Radio.