During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the BSA also upheld a complaint that Hosking's comments about death rates for Coronavirus breached the Radio Code of Broadcasting Practice.
[6] The case in question Hosking v Runting lead to the creation of the tort of privacy in New Zealand common law.
[14] Hosking rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, stating on Seven Sharp that he doesn't believe in the IPCC report.
[17][18] During the 2017 election campaign, Hosking was appointed moderator of one of the televised leader debates, and was again accused of political bias by much of the New Zealand public.
The BSA consider that Mr Hosking's statement during broadcast on 23 August 2017 was inaccurate and misleading, and that the clarification subsequently provided was confusing and insufficient to correct the inaccuracy.
This was an important issue, particularly during the election period, and had the potential to significantly affect voters’ understanding of the Māori roll and of New Zealand's electoral system.
It also failed to meet or exceed the five percent voting threshold needed for election and the Party lost its representation in Parliament.
[28][29] It was upheld and the ruling, recorded on 14 September 2020, summarised that "Mr Hosking’s comments about people with underlying health conditions and Italy’s death-rate statistics breached the accuracy and discrimination and denigration standards of the Radio Code of Broadcasting Practice".
[30] The BSA noted that "Mr Hosking did not consider or acknowledge the possibility that [these people] may have died a lot sooner than they might otherwise have, due to contracting Covid-19,” [and that] "the broadcast had the potential to mislead listeners about the facts behind Mr Hosking’s relatively strong views critiquing the Government’s measures to manage the impact of Covid-19.”[31]