Paul Thistoll
@pault.bsky.social
Human Rights Defender / Founder of Rights Aotearoa @rightsaotearoa.bsky.social || he/him || Proud alumnus of London Business School || ❤️Food & Wine || Trans rights are human rights || [email protected]
Pinned
Paul Thistoll
@pault.bsky.social
· Oct 17
There are three main ways you can help my work with Rights Aotearoa:
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
Reposted by Paul Thistoll
Given all the discussion about hate speech laws going on in Australia right now, I decided it would be a good time to publish an article on the philosophical case for hate speech laws.
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
The Philosophical Case for Hate Speech Laws
Human dignity matters because it recognises our equal moral worth. But when speech performatively enacts subordination, it degrades dignity into empty formalism. Democracy matters because it makes pow...
www.rightsaotearoa.nz
January 17, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Given all the discussion about hate speech laws going on in Australia right now, I decided it would be a good time to publish an article on the philosophical case for hate speech laws.
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Given all the discussion about hate speech laws going on in Australia right now, I decided it would be a good time to publish an article on the philosophical case for hate speech laws.
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
The Philosophical Case for Hate Speech Laws
Human dignity matters because it recognises our equal moral worth. But when speech performatively enacts subordination, it degrades dignity into empty formalism. Democracy matters because it makes pow...
www.rightsaotearoa.nz
January 17, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Given all the discussion about hate speech laws going on in Australia right now, I decided it would be a good time to publish an article on the philosophical case for hate speech laws.
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Tl; dr; hate speech laws are necessary to preserve our democracy.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/the-philosop...
Reposted by Paul Thistoll
Imagine promising to Netsafe you would never speak about someone online ever again and then you shit the bed and do an unhinged rant calling them "Deeply Unstable" just five months later
January 15, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Imagine promising to Netsafe you would never speak about someone online ever again and then you shit the bed and do an unhinged rant calling them "Deeply Unstable" just five months later
Just a friendly reminder that Rights Aotearoa is not just me.
I have an amazing advisory council of 9 amazing people - they are anonymous for security reasons.
I have an amazing advisory council of 9 amazing people - they are anonymous for security reasons.
January 15, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Just a friendly reminder that Rights Aotearoa is not just me.
I have an amazing advisory council of 9 amazing people - they are anonymous for security reasons.
I have an amazing advisory council of 9 amazing people - they are anonymous for security reasons.
Reposted by Paul Thistoll
Today, @wikipedia.org turns 25 years old. It's never been more important — or under more attack from authoritarians. Here's what to know about how we got here, and what we can do to push for its future. There's no better example of the web we make together. www.anildash.com/2026/01/15/w...
Wikipedia at 25: What the web can be - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Today, @wikipedia.org turns 25 years old. It's never been more important — or under more attack from authoritarians. Here's what to know about how we got here, and what we can do to push for its future. There's no better example of the web we make together. www.anildash.com/2026/01/15/w...
Also featuring quotes from my letter to Goldsmith!
I talked to @nikdirga.bsky.social for his story about what to about X. Musk has wrecked its public utility and now he's put an abuse tool front and centre. Public agencies and NGOs need to ask whether they should be there. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...
The X Factor: Grok deepfakes and why NZ is still using Elon Musk's X
Explainer - Elon Musk's X has been in the line of fire over Grok AI deepfakes - with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's office calling them "concerning." What's going on?
www.rnz.co.nz
January 14, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Also featuring quotes from my letter to Goldsmith!
Rights Aotearoa's first letter of the year. The Government must urgently address the situation with xAi and non-consensual intimate imagery.
Rights Aotearoa's first letter of the year. An urgent situation the Government must address immediately.
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/letter-to-pa...
www.rightsaotearoa.nz/letter-to-pa...
Letter to Paul Goldsmith re: Urgent regulation of AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery and suspension of government communications on X
Rights Aotearoa is deeply concerned about the ongoing availability of xAI's Grok image generation tool, which has been widely reported as facilitating the creation of non-consensual intimate images, i...
www.rightsaotearoa.nz
January 11, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Rights Aotearoa's first letter of the year. The Government must urgently address the situation with xAi and non-consensual intimate imagery.
I personally express my deep respect for the Iranian protesters and sincerely hope they are successful in manifesting change.
The Iranian regime is one of the world's worst respecters of human rights.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Iranian regime is one of the world's worst respecters of human rights.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Iran warns it will retaliate if US attacks as protesters defy crackdown
Medics at two hospitals tell the BBC more than 100 bodies have been brought in over a two day period.
www.bbc.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:14 PM
I personally express my deep respect for the Iranian protesters and sincerely hope they are successful in manifesting change.
The Iranian regime is one of the world's worst respecters of human rights.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Iranian regime is one of the world's worst respecters of human rights.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Do you all remember when I won my judicial review in December 2025, which showed Goldsmith unlawfully appointed the Chief Human Rights Commissioner and the Race Relations Commissioner in 2024? 🍾🥂🍾
Para 101 of the judgment is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
Para 101 of the judgment is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
![[101] I agree with the applicant that the declaration sought here would serve a real purpose in ensuring that future recommendations for the position of human rights commissioners proceed lawfully. When potential appointees for such positions occupy an important public office intended to help ensure the human rights of New Zealander’s are upheld and promoted, there is a clear and substantial public interest in having errors in their appointment publicly declared. Conclusion [102] The judicial review application is granted. [103] I make the declaration that the Decision was unlawful because: (a) (b) the Minister applied the incorrect legal test; and the Minister failed to take into account relevant considerations. [104] The issue of costs is reserved. I encourage the parties to agree on any issue of costs that might arise. If that is not possible, the applicant is to file a memorandum on costs no longer than five pages within 30 working days of the date of this judgment, with the respondent to file a memorandum in response within a further 10 working days of receipt of the applicant’s costs memorandum. The Court will then decide the costs issues.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:b7y7isv72z6ku7rtpu7zvfzy/bafkreiejxsssvwd7e3gbtjsrqinyh63jrn75ppz7t6cvqpxddb65nucel4@jpeg)
January 11, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Do you all remember when I won my judicial review in December 2025, which showed Goldsmith unlawfully appointed the Chief Human Rights Commissioner and the Race Relations Commissioner in 2024? 🍾🥂🍾
Para 101 of the judgment is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
Para 101 of the judgment is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
After a great downtime over Xmas/NY with my family and bestie, Lola, I have recommitted to Rights Aotearoa as my full-time gig for 2026.
As was my intention at the end of 2025.
Coffee tips (details below) are one significant way you can help me during 2026 - they really help to keep my spirits up.
As was my intention at the end of 2025.
Coffee tips (details below) are one significant way you can help me during 2026 - they really help to keep my spirits up.
There are three main ways you can help my work with Rights Aotearoa:
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
January 11, 2026 at 7:53 PM
After a great downtime over Xmas/NY with my family and bestie, Lola, I have recommitted to Rights Aotearoa as my full-time gig for 2026.
As was my intention at the end of 2025.
Coffee tips (details below) are one significant way you can help me during 2026 - they really help to keep my spirits up.
As was my intention at the end of 2025.
Coffee tips (details below) are one significant way you can help me during 2026 - they really help to keep my spirits up.
Reposted by Paul Thistoll
The animating principle of representational democracy is to protect the rest of us from the whims of deranged rich people, be they kings or oligarchs. Everything else is wainscoting.
President Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Trump Lays Out a Vision of Power Restrained Only by ‘My Own Morality’
www.nytimes.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:52 PM
The animating principle of representational democracy is to protect the rest of us from the whims of deranged rich people, be they kings or oligarchs. Everything else is wainscoting.
Doing my personal and work strategic planning for 2026, and even though I have a master's degree in strategic thinking, it's very taxing and difficult.
More coffee needed!
More coffee needed!
January 5, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Doing my personal and work strategic planning for 2026, and even though I have a master's degree in strategic thinking, it's very taxing and difficult.
More coffee needed!
More coffee needed!
Philosophical Logic, Formal Logic and the Foundations of Set Theory weren't my strongest subjects, but this made me LMAO.
January 4, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Philosophical Logic, Formal Logic and the Foundations of Set Theory weren't my strongest subjects, but this made me LMAO.
If any Barristers want to sign up pro bono for a BORA declaration of inconsistency of the Government's voting changes, HMU.
[email protected]
[email protected]
January 4, 2026 at 10:20 PM
If any Barristers want to sign up pro bono for a BORA declaration of inconsistency of the Government's voting changes, HMU.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Reposted by Paul Thistoll
There are three main ways you can help my work with Rights Aotearoa:
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
October 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
There are three main ways you can help my work with Rights Aotearoa:
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
First, you can tip me coffee money directly at:
Paul Thistoll
03-0547-0039160-001
(I can't tell you how important these little coffee tips are to my emotional morale - they really keep me going!)
I have come back from an incredibly invigorating vacation with Lola, determined to make Rights Aotearoa the leading human rights NGO in NZ.
My email is [email protected]—I am here for all of you.
If you have any focus areas you'd like us to prioritise, please email me with your thoughts.
My email is [email protected]—I am here for all of you.
If you have any focus areas you'd like us to prioritise, please email me with your thoughts.
It was left up to me—a private citizen— to take on the risk of incurring 36k of legal costs against me in challenging the appointments of the human rights commissioners. Where was amnesty? Nowhere to be seen.
They seem to have forsaken Aotearoa/NZ.
They seem to have forsaken Aotearoa/NZ.
January 4, 2026 at 4:36 AM
I have come back from an incredibly invigorating vacation with Lola, determined to make Rights Aotearoa the leading human rights NGO in NZ.
My email is [email protected]—I am here for all of you.
If you have any focus areas you'd like us to prioritise, please email me with your thoughts.
My email is [email protected]—I am here for all of you.
If you have any focus areas you'd like us to prioritise, please email me with your thoughts.
Sometimes I think I should grow Rights Aotearoa to be like Amnesty should be—a defender of human rights in all countries.
A kind of go big or go home strategy. Because Amnesty does fuck all for human rights in Aotearoa.
Thoughts?
A kind of go big or go home strategy. Because Amnesty does fuck all for human rights in Aotearoa.
Thoughts?
January 4, 2026 at 4:18 AM
Sometimes I think I should grow Rights Aotearoa to be like Amnesty should be—a defender of human rights in all countries.
A kind of go big or go home strategy. Because Amnesty does fuck all for human rights in Aotearoa.
Thoughts?
A kind of go big or go home strategy. Because Amnesty does fuck all for human rights in Aotearoa.
Thoughts?
I wanted to make my first posts of 2026 jokey and a bit zany. However, our first human rights emergency is upon us early with the brutal, oppressive Iranian regime killing unarmed protestors.
~50% inflation and no human rights is a terrible combination.
No one is truly free until everyone is.
~50% inflation and no human rights is a terrible combination.
No one is truly free until everyone is.
January 2, 2026 at 12:47 AM
I wanted to make my first posts of 2026 jokey and a bit zany. However, our first human rights emergency is upon us early with the brutal, oppressive Iranian regime killing unarmed protestors.
~50% inflation and no human rights is a terrible combination.
No one is truly free until everyone is.
~50% inflation and no human rights is a terrible combination.
No one is truly free until everyone is.
Gary Graffman, Piano Virtuoso and Renowned Teacher, Dies at 97
www.nytimes.com
December 28, 2025 at 10:03 PM
If “free speech” were really a core US principle, Trump would target China, Russia, and the Gulf monarchies—not the EU.
The selectivity reveals the truth: it’s weaponised against democracies with rights protections, while actual authoritarians get a pass.
The selectivity reveals the truth: it’s weaponised against democracies with rights protections, while actual authoritarians get a pass.
December 28, 2025 at 3:38 AM
If “free speech” were really a core US principle, Trump would target China, Russia, and the Gulf monarchies—not the EU.
The selectivity reveals the truth: it’s weaponised against democracies with rights protections, while actual authoritarians get a pass.
The selectivity reveals the truth: it’s weaponised against democracies with rights protections, while actual authoritarians get a pass.
What are people's New Year's resolutions?
Mine is to redouble my efforts to promote and defend universal human rights in Aotearoa in 2026. And spend more time with Lola - she is so down-to-earth; she keeps me grounded.
Mine is to redouble my efforts to promote and defend universal human rights in Aotearoa in 2026. And spend more time with Lola - she is so down-to-earth; she keeps me grounded.
December 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
What are people's New Year's resolutions?
Mine is to redouble my efforts to promote and defend universal human rights in Aotearoa in 2026. And spend more time with Lola - she is so down-to-earth; she keeps me grounded.
Mine is to redouble my efforts to promote and defend universal human rights in Aotearoa in 2026. And spend more time with Lola - she is so down-to-earth; she keeps me grounded.
Lola and I are taking a mini road trip today.
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." - Hunter S Thompson.
LMAO, Lola and HST would have got on very well, I think.
(No drugs actually involved with us!)
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." - Hunter S Thompson.
LMAO, Lola and HST would have got on very well, I think.
(No drugs actually involved with us!)
December 26, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Lola and I are taking a mini road trip today.
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." - Hunter S Thompson.
LMAO, Lola and HST would have got on very well, I think.
(No drugs actually involved with us!)
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." - Hunter S Thompson.
LMAO, Lola and HST would have got on very well, I think.
(No drugs actually involved with us!)
Someone on the interweb just accused me of not knowing anything about the law! Fun times on Xmas day!
December 24, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Someone on the interweb just accused me of not knowing anything about the law! Fun times on Xmas day!