Christchurch Call Summit charts next steps

InternetNZ joined world leaders at the Christchurch Call virtual summit today. 

Big steps were made today in progressing the Christchurch Call. Leaders of countries, tech companies and civil society came together to reflect on progress since 2019 and create a work plan for the coming years.     

The Christchurch Call was launched two years ago as a response to the live streaming of the horrific terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019. The Call brings together partners who share the common goal of eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online.

Jordan Carter, InternetNZ Chief Executive, who was in Paris when the Christchurch Call was launched, attended today’s Summit. He says he’s proud of New Zealand for taking action and showing leadership to establish the Call. 

“In the last two years, there has been some good progress achieved together. However, it’s now crucial that we all improve the ways we are working together — governments, companies, and civil society — if we want to make the most difference. 

“The work plan agreed today is an important step in that direction. All the participants in the Call have agreed the principles of working well together, and it’s now time to put those principles more fully into practice,” says Carter.

Some of the achievements and areas needing further work are outlined in the recent Christchurch Call Community Consultation report.

InternetNZ’s Chief Advisor International, Dr Ellen Strickland, spoke at the summit today as a member of the Christchurch Call Advisory Network (CCAN) which represents civil society in the Christchurch Call community. 

“Key to the promise of the Christchurch Call being realised is the Call community working together. This is no small ask — for such a wide set of perspectives to come together on this issue and find ways to work together. Diversity is a key strength of the Call, but this work, together, will require perseverance.

“The Summit today was the culmination of a few weeks of intense collaboration around work plans to take forward this important work, together. The challenge for the Christchurch Call community is now the ongoing commitment to working together and making progress on some of the key areas of work,” says Strickland.

The summit endorsed work in four areas over the next year: building the Call’s community, transparency, crisis response and algorithms. 

InternetNZ particularly looks forward to seeing focussed work continue on understanding the impact of algorithms. Understanding how algorithms work, and what impact they can have, could be key to finding a solution to eliminating the spread of terrorist and violent extremist content online. 

InternetNZ is committed to being part of the Christchurch Call community to tackle the rise of terrorism and violent extremism online while ensuring a free and open Internet and respect for human rights. 

The Christchurch Call Advisory Network has released a statement alongside the summit: Christchurch Call Advisory Network Statement