Can filming a crime become a crime?
What New Zealand law says about recording and sharing harmful behaviour
Technology has made it easier than ever to capture what happens around us. Phones, livestreams, dashcams, smart glasses and social media can put a recording of a crime in thousands of hands within minutes.
People may record crimes or harmful behaviour for legitimate reasons, including to document what happened, protect themselves, or provide evidence to police. In other cases, reasons for recording are not as well-intentioned.
Under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, content involving crime, violence, cruelty or sexual offending can be classified as objectionable (illegal) if it promotes or supports certain types of criminal or harmful behaviour.
Where someone is recording a crime or harmful behaviour to promote the behaviour, the recording can be a crime in itself. How and why the content is recorded, and how it is framed, presented, shared and used is all relevant to whether the recording might be illegal.
When recording crosses the line
Not every recording of a crime or violence is illegal.
News reporting, documentaries, public-interest footage, evidence gathering, and bystander recordings can all serve legitimate purposes. Films, television, games, satire, education, and public discussion often deal with difficult topics without promoting harm. Context matters.
But there are situations where filming becomes part of the offending itself, especially where content is created to glorify, encourage, intimidate, humiliate, entertain, or profit from real harm.
This could include content that:
- celebrates violence or cruelty
- encourages copycat behaviour
- turns abuse into entertainment
- provides instructions or encouragement for criminal offending
- is designed to shock, intimidate, or spread fear
In some cases, recording can prolong harm to victims and communities long after the original event has occurred.
Read more about harmful and illegal content.
When recording becomes part of the harm
Online culture has changed the role that filming and recording plays in harmful behaviour. Attention, views, humiliation, or online status can become part of the motivation for doing and recording harmful behaviour.
Examples people may encounter online include:
- violent assaults filmed for social media
- perpetrator footage of burglaries, ram raids or vandalism
- livestreamed violence or acts of terrorism
- recordings of sexual violence
- people being lured into violence for content
- people harming themselves as a result of extortion or sextortion
The law can apply whether content is privately shared, livestreamed or posted on social media, or stored on a device. It does not have to be online or widely shared to be classified as objectionable.
For more information about sextortion or harmful online behaviour see Netsafe.
Even AI-generated content can be illegal
AI-generated content that promotes or supports serious harmful behaviour can be illegal under New Zealand law.
A common misunderstanding is that fake or AI-generated content cannot cause harm because it is “not real”.
But the Act applies to AI-generated, edited or digitally altered content in the same way as real life content. This is because fictional or manipulated content can still encourage real-world harm, desensitise viewers, normalise abuse, or be used to intimidate people.
Read more about AI-generated content and the law.
Privacy
Existing laws apply to the use of recording devices and people should be aware of this when using them, especially for recording others. The technology itself is not necessarily illegal but how it is used matters. For example, smart glasses, smartphones and other recording devices are legal to own and use. But using them to secretly record someone in a private situation, sexually exploit or humiliate someone, or make or share objectionable content can be illegal. For information on Recording People in Public Places check out the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's website, and our resource on covertly filmed content.
Freedom of expression is an important consideration
New Zealand law places a high value on freedom of expression.
The law covers a narrow category of content that crosses the line into encouraging or supporting serious harmful behaviour.
For every piece of content, the Office must balance the right to freedom of expression with the potential for content to cause harm. We consider purpose, context and the wider public interest when considering whether content crosses the line.
Read more about freedom of expression.
Before recording or sharing harmful content
Most people understand that committing a crime that harms others is wrong. But there is another side to this that many people, especially young people, may not realise: recording crime or other seriously harmful behaviour can become part of the harm and may even be a crime, with the potential for serious penalties.
There is an important difference between recording something for a legitimate reason, and filming harmful behaviour in a way that supports the behaviour itself.
For example, recording content to:
- report something to police
- document evidence
- protect yourself or others
- support a victim
- capture events in the public interest
is very different from filming harmful behaviour to:
- glorify violence or offending
- entertain or shock people online
- humiliate victims of violent offending
- encourage others to copy the behaviour.
This is especially important for young people to understand in a world where phones, livestreams, and social media can make recording and uploading content feel automatic or consequence-free.
Before recording or sharing harmful content, ask yourself:
- Why am I recording or sharing this?
- Could this encourage or normalise harmful behaviour?
- Could the recording itself cross a legal line?
If you see harmful content online, reporting it and not sharing it any further can help reduce harm to others.
Reporting harmful or illegal content
If you encounter harmful or potentially illegal content online in New Zealand, you can report it, even if you are unsure whether it breaks the law.
Reporting harmful material helps reduce harm and allows the appropriate agencies to assess the content safely and lawfully.
See our reporting page for more information.
Further reading
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