Home Grown Kiwi (Cozens and Eales) v. Reddit
Palmerston North District Court, New Zealand
- Court
- Palmerston North District Court, New Zealand
- Parties
- Tayte Cozens and Nadine Eales, owners of Home Grown Kiwi (hydroponics retailer), applicants v. Reddit, Inc., respondent
- Claim type
- privacy
- Filed
- 2025
- Outcome
- Still unresolved as of January 2026. At a hearing on January 26, 2026, Judge Lance Rowe directed both parties to file all evidence and submissions by early March, with a short final hearing to be set after that. Cozens is now litigating alone — his wife was removed from the proceeding, his lawyer sought leave to withdraw, and Home Grown Kiwi Limited has been placed into voluntary liquidation.
Summary
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.