Home Grown Kiwi (Cozens and Eales) v. Reddit

Tayte Cozens and Nadine Eales, owners of the Palmerston North hydroponics retailer Home Grown Kiwi, applied to the Palmerston North District Court under New Zealand's Harmful Digital Communications Act over posts made about their business on the r/NZtrees subreddit. They sought orders for Reddit to take down the posts, publish a correction, grant a right of reply, and disclose the identities of anonymous posters, alleging the posts harassed them and made false allegations. Reddit, a US company with no NZ presence, argued it is not subject to the Act but said it had proactively removed nine rule-violating posts and offered a reporting channel. The matter was before Judge Stephanie Edwards, with a technical adviser's feasibility report filed, and proceedings continued at a May 8, 2025 hearing.