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The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, says she is committed to making the coming general election campaign positive, factual and robust and has pledged to fight the online spread of misinformation.

The general election is scheduled for September and political analysts are already warning that New Zealand needs to be vigilant to protect itself against the kind of culture wars and fake news campaigns seen in the recent US and UK elections, among others.

Addressing her colleagues at a Labour party caucus meeting, Ardern said she intended the tone and values of the coming campaign to be positive and factual.

New Zealanders deserve a factual campaign, one that is free from misinformation, where people can make honest reflections for themselves about what they want for the future of New Zealand, Ardern said.

We want it to be robust, where there is a good exchange between us and other parties, but it is incredibly important for us as the Labour party that New Zealand does not fall prey to what weve seen happen in other jurisdictions.

Domestic media reported that the Labour party intended to sign up to Facebooks transparency tool, the Facebook Ad Library Report, which allows users to view how a political party is spending its advertising dollars on the platform. The Guardian could not immediately confirm this.

In a recent Q&A session with Guardian readers, Ardern said New Zealanders had a low threshold for the so-called culture wars seen around the election of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, and even coming referendums on legalising marijuana and euthanasia should not divide the country.

I agree no one wants to see division, but I do think New Zealanders have shown they can live happily side by side while holding strong and varying views, Ardern said.

Yes these [coming referendums] can be emotional decisions but I trust that New Zealanders will have the debates while remaining respectful of one another and of differing views. In fact I think thats one of the things that sets us apart.

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Jacinda Ardern calls for 'factual and positive' New Zealand election campaign - The Guardian