I've seen this argument coming up a lot, mostly based on a TERRIBLE article by a non-Māori author, so to make this clear: kirituhi doesn't mean 'moko done by non-Māori', it means 'a style of tattoo similar to moko but distinct, making it okay for non-Māori to have'

The designs in Tā Moko mean specific things. They tell a story of where that person came from. Kirituhi mimic the aesthetic without stealing somebody's ancestry. If you're a non-white artist or tattooist using tā moko as a reference, it's not kirituhi, it's just stealing moko.

Kirituhi were created to safeguard tā moko; we recognised that people really like the aesthetic so we wanted to give them a way to do that without stealing from us.

Now they're stealing from us and claiming it's okay because we gave them permission.