New Zealand retailer takes Reddit to court over r/NZTrees posts

In 2025, Tayte Cozens and Nadine Eales, owners of the Palmerston North hydroponics retailer Home Grown Kiwi, took Reddit to the District Court in New Zealand under the country's Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 (HDCA). The couple said that posts on the r/NZTrees subreddit — a community oriented around cannabis cultivation — had encouraged a campaign of fake reviews and abuse directed at them and their family after a dissatisfied customer aired grievances online. They sought orders requiring Reddit to take the posts down and to disclose the identities of the anonymous users responsible.

The case is unusual because it tested how a national online-harms statute applies to a large foreign platform with no legal presence in the country. Reddit, a US company, told the court it had already proactively removed nine posts that violated its rules, but it declined to disclose the identities of the users and argued that it was not subject to the New Zealand Act. The structure of the HDCA compounded the difficulty: orders to unmask anonymous posters under that framework are generally directed at internet service providers within New Zealand's jurisdiction rather than at an overseas platform such as Reddit itself.

To navigate the technical and jurisdictional questions, the presiding judge appointed a technical adviser to assess whether and how any enforcement could realistically work against a company based outside the country. The proceedings highlighted a recurring problem for individuals seeking redress over online harm: domestic statutes can be robust on paper, yet falter when the platform hosting the content sits beyond the reach of the court's enforcement powers.

Reporting on the dispute referenced a substantial damages figure sought by the claimants, although the precise amount was not uniformly confirmed across outlets, and the matter remained at a relatively early, contested stage. What was clear was that the business owners framed the posts as having caused real-world harm — reputational damage and harassment extending to their family — rather than as mere unflattering opinion.

The case is significant as a test of whether a small business in a smaller jurisdiction can use national online-harms law to obtain meaningful relief against a global platform, and it places Reddit squarely as the named respondent. As reported, the proceedings were continuing, with the feasibility of enforcement against Reddit one of the central unresolved questions.