Jacinda Ardern calls for 'ethical algorithms' in push against violent extremism online

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that tech companies need to make more progress on "algorithms" that can help stop extremist violence from spreading online while respecting freedom of expression. Ardern along with France's President Emmanuel Macron is leading a push to rid the world of extremist and terrorist content online. The initiative — known as the "Christchurch Call", was launched in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people in March 2019. 

'Christchurch Call'

Ardern, Macron and other leaders from tech giants and governments around the world came together gathered virtually on May 15 to find better ways to stop violence from spreading online. The United States government and four other countries joined the effort for the first time this year. The initiative involves some 50 nations and also tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon. 

The Christchurch attack was live-streamed by the attacker and stored online, raising questions on social media protocols. Similar incidents were also happened on two other occasions, during a 2019 shooting in Halle, Germany and a 2020 attack in Glendale, Arizona. Such incidents called for an immediate action plan to put efforts to de-radicalise online spaces. 

Ardern said that in order to prevent future atrocities such as the Christchurch mosque attack, the world needs to "work together". It is worth mentioning that a key finding into the Christchurch mosque attacks revealed that the man who carried them out, Australian Brenton Tarrant, was radicalised on YouTube and other online spaces while viewing white supremacist material. Tarrant has been jailed for life without parole. 

"The existence of algorithms themselves is not necessarily the problem, it's whether or not they are being ethically used. And so that is probably the biggest focus for the Call community over the next year," Ardern said.

The meeting was aimed at revitalising coordination efforts, notably since President Joe Biden entered office, and getting more tech companies involved. Macron and Ardern welcomed the US decision as a potential catalyst for stronger action. Ardern said part of the solution also came in better equipping a younger generation of internet users to have the skills to deal with radical content or disinformation when they encounter it online. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a prerecorded video that authorities in his country alone had taken down more than 300,000 pieces of terrorist material from the internet over the past decade, which he described as a tsunami of hate. "Terrorist content is like a metastasising tumor within the internet, or series of tumors," Johnson said. "If we fail to excise it, it will inevitably spread into homes and high streets the world over."

(with inputs from AP)