Internet Party's new leader is a citizen journalist living in Russia

Kim Dotcom's Internet Party has named activist and citizen journalist Suzie Dawson as their new leader.

Dawson has been seeking temporary asylum in Russia since 2016, saying the New Zealand Government have been harassing her and threatening her family due to her reporting on the GCSB.

She currently lives and works in Moscow. It is unclear whether she will return to New Zealand to campaign before the September election.

"Exile is not a choice and although I seldom talk about the price that I have paid it has been incredibly high and not just paid by me," Dawson told NZME.

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"While teams of reckless security agents profit off politically persecuting New Zealanders, with no hope of accountability or justice, I will not be able to return to New Zealand."

The Internet Party failed to gain a single seat in the 2014 election, the first that they contested.

Dawson said her IT management experience, media skills, and insight into politics and activism made her qualified for the role.

"When I was asked in late January to consider the leadership position it came as a huge surprise to me as I had never considered entering politics. But the more I examined the idea, the clearer the synergies were," she sad in a transcript of the NZME interview provided by the Internet Party.

The government had "driven the country into the ground" in "servitude to its foreign Deep State masters" over the last three years.

Dawson has written favourably about party founder Kim Dotcom and the Internet Party several times.

Earlier this year she interviewed Dotcom after he got involved with Seth Rich murder conspiracy.

While Dotcom has now left the executive committee of the party they publicly backed his investigation into the murdered American. The family of Rich begged Dotcom to stop promoting conspiracy theories surrounding the death.

Dawson said the 2014 election bid "took a huge amount of courage".

"Had it worked and Internet Mana entered parliament, the same commentariat who were derisive of the pairing would have had to cheer it as a brilliant strategic move," she told NZME.

"While optimism is awesome, I think expectations were set too high in 2014, unrealistically so, and that this is a long game not a fast one."

"The need for a technology-minded party is obvious, as is the gap that it fills. So many Kiwis are understandably sickened and disillusioned by the drudgery, corruption and puppetry of traditional politics. Showing New Zealand that we are about creative solutions, tech-savvy engagement and fun is where it's at for us."

The Internet Party are yet to announce any other list or seat candidates.

Stuff