OPINION: In our view, there is a real risk proposed legislation in the New Zealand Parliament to make planning a terrorist attack a criminal offence could be counterproductive. The Christchurch and New Lynn terror attacks underline some important lessons for New Zealand. It was this social media environment that is closely connected to the terror attacks at Christchurch and New Lynn. However, there are real questions whether having such an offence on the books could have helped prevent either the New Lynn or Christchurch attacks. And in other jurisdictions such offences have been used in ways that catch relatively innocuous research activities, as the Royal Commission of inquiry into the terrorist attack on the mosques noted.

Source: Stuff September 10, 2021 02:00 UTC