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Fighting online hate: Global internet governance through shared values
After a terrorist attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand was live-streamed on the internet in 2019, the Christchurch Call was launched to counter the increasing weaponization of the internet and to ensure that emerging tech is harnessed for good.
In a recent Global Stage livestream, from the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, former New Zealand Prime Minster Dame Jacinda Ardern discussed the challenges and disparities inherent in the ever-evolving digital age, ranging from unrestricted online platforms in liberal democracies to severe content limitations in certain countries.
“If you look beyond just liberal democracies, on the one hand you have the discussion about free speech and the view that some hold around being able to use online platforms to publish just about anything. Then in some countries, the inability to publish anything at all,” said Ardern.
In her new role, as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call, she advocated for departing from conventional country-centric strategies and proposed a foundation built upon shared values instead, prioritizing the safeguarding of human rights and the preservation of an open internet over national interests. “Let's establish the value set, the common problem identification to bring everyone around the table.”
Watch the full Global Stage Livestream conversation here: Hearing the Christchurch Call
- Hearing the Christchurch Call ›
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- Jacinda Ardern on the Christchurch Call: How New Zealand led a movement ›
Christchurch Call had a global impact on tech giants - Microsoft's Brad Smith
The Christchurch killer livestreamed his heinous crimes, highlighting a macabre threat ensconced within the relatively new field of social media. Extremists could use the technology to get the attention of millions of people — and perhaps even find some incentive for their violence in that fact.
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, in a recent Global Stage livestream, from the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, says the technology industry set out to ensure extremists could “never again” reach mass audiences during massacres. Tech companies, governments and civil society groups work together on the so-called Content Incident Protocol, a sort of digital emergency response plan.
Now, people are on call 24/7 to intervene early, shut down broadcasts, and cooperate with authorities. Smith says the impact has been transformative and urged further efforts to enhance safety against online extremism.
Watch the full Global Stage Livestream conversation here: Hearing the Christchurch Call
Jacinda Ardern on the Christchurch Call: How New Zealand led a movement
During a Global Stage livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed that when she reached for her phone to share the heartbreaking news of the Christchurch massacre, she found a horrifying surprise: A livestream of the massacre served to her on a social media platform.
For a period of 24 hours, copies of the footage were uploaded to YouTube as often as once per second, spreading the 17-minute massacre faster than tech companies could shut it down.
The experience drives her work at the Christchurch Call, combating online extremism and working with government and civil society to build guardrails against the exploitation of technology by extremists, , she explained during a Global Stage livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Watch the full Global Stage Livestream conversation here: Hearing the Christchurch Call
Ian Bremmer: Algorithms are now shaping human beings' behavior
Everyone is a product of their environment. But where once the influences on young people were largely shaped by their physical community, algorithmic content online has opened a new and dangerous pathway to radicalization and violence, says Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer in a recent Global Stage livestream, from the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly.
That’s why the Christchurch Call’s work has resonated. The organization, founded by former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the wake of a heinous livestreamed mass shooting in the eponymous city, addresses a pressing need that was not handled before it had cost too many lives: online radicalization.
Watch the full Global Stage Livestream conversation here: Hearing the Christchurch Call