Our media and social media approach

The Commerce Commission engages with the news media to help New Zealanders understand our work, build trust in the regulatory system, and support confident participation in markets. We aim to be a calm, trusted and neutral public voice on competition, consumer and regulatory matters.

How we work with media

• The news media is an important channel to explain our decisions, highlight enforcement outcomes, and support consumer and business understanding of competition matters.
• We engage with media and respond to media queries to promote openness and transparency about our work, while protecting the integrity of investigations and adjudications.

Our principles for media engagement

• We communicate in plain language.
• We make reasonable efforts to respond to journalists within their deadlines.
• We ensure all public communications content, including media releases and social media, is factual and free from commentary that could be interpreted as prejudicial, biased, or pre emptive.
• The Commission’s communication content may encourage competition and fair trading but should not endorse any specific product or service.
• We carefully consider and may limit our commentary during an investigation or litigation, so as not to unduly prejudice the progress of an investigation, opinion about a business, or relevant legal processes before any wrong doing is proven.
• Our media engagement is undertaken in line with the Commission’s values and our obligations under the Official Information Act (OIA), the Privacy Act, and other legislation. We may withhold information for reasons such as protecting our investigative process, witnesses, confidentiality, and commercial sensitivity.

Spokespeople and interview requests

• Only authorised spokespeople may speak on behalf of the Commission.

Media releases and announcements

• We publish media releases on our website.
• As a courtesy, we may provide a copy of our media release to an associated party prior to release.
• We maintain impartiality and independence in our communications.
• We avoid releasing market sensitive information for listed companies during trading hours except in circumstances detailed in the Market Sensitive Information Release Guidelines (noting that some companies may be listed on multiple exchanges). If it is unclear whether a press release is market sensitive, the Commission will consult with the company and/or the NZX. 

This transparency statement explains how we use and engage on social media. We want to make it as easy as possible for people and businesses to engage with us through social media.

In addition to this transparency statement, we encourage you to read each channel's terms of use. By using or accessing the Commission’s social media pages, we consider you have consented to the terms of use for that particular social media channel and the individual page or account.

How we use social media, and for what purposes

The Commission uses social media to communicate and engage with the public about a range of topics related to our work.

Like us on Facebookopen_in_new

Follow us on LinkedInopen_in_new

Subscribe to us on YouTubeopen_in_new

Moderating comments and responding to comments and messages

Comments on and messages to our social media channels will be moderated by the Commission, according to each channel’s terms of use.

We welcome public feedback and ask that you remain respectful in your comments and in responding to comments from other users. We take privacy seriously, so we are not able to respond on social media to questions about your personal situation.

Comments that violate our terms of use will be removed, including those that:

• contain private details or information
• include inappropriate language or content including swearing or profanity
• are sexist, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, attack a religion, or promote violence
• are spam or link to third party scam material or to unofficial sites
• promote a product or service
• spread misinformation
• are gang or hate-group affiliated
• personally attack an individual at the Commission.

The Commission reserves the right to:

• Remove or hide any comment by anyone posting on our accounts at any time
• Amend or delete our own content at any time.

Repeat offenders who breach our policies will be blocked.

We aim to respond to comments and messages within one working day but this is not always achievable. Any comments we make may be limited and informal. If you require a formal response to your query, or if you think a business or person isn’t complying with one of the laws we enforce, please use the report a concern function on our website.

Other social media content

The Commerce Commission follows a number of individuals and organisations on social media, and occasionally likes and shares content from other social media accounts. Liking, following, and sharing content or accounts does not necessarily imply the Commission endorses the accuracy of that content or the views expressed.

The Commission’s social media accounts are the official channels for the Commission.

Private social media activity by Commission employees represents the individual’s views and should not be interpreted as an official communication or position from the Commission.

If you are concerned about anything we publish in a media release or post on one of our social media channels or how we have responded to or moderated content, please contact us at communications@comcom.govt.nz or webadmin@comcom.govt.nz.

You can also make a formal complaint about us using the complaint form on our website. Any concerns or complaints sent to us will be treated in confidence and managed in line with our complaints principles.