Collaborative approach key to mission

Summit aims for voluntary scheme for Governments and tech firms

It is two months since the Christchurch mosque attacks killed 51 people, with the events livestreamed on Facebook in a video that went viral.

Since then, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has worked diligently behind the scenes on two responses to minimise the chances of a repeat of March 15: Banning most semiautomatic firearms and assault rifles, and starting a global collaboration between governments and tech companies to stop violent extremist content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Gun law reform took four weeks to come into effect, and today at least 10 countries will join the world’s major tech companies in signing the Christchurch Call to Action.

It will be a voluntary framework whereby governments and tech companies pledge to work to stop violent content being posted online, and work to prevent such content spreading so rapidly.

There will be four main components:

● The context of the March 15 mosque attacks;

● A commitment to use the law to counter drivers of violent extremism;

● A commitment from tech firms to stop the upload of objectionable material, including being more transparent about their algorithms and working together across the tech sector;

● A commitment for governments and tech companies to work together.

Key parts will include preserving freedom of expression, abiding by international human rights law, and respecting a free, open and secure internet.

The pledge will lay a platform for further action, which the governments and tech

firms will determine respectively and collaboratively.

Part of that will be an expectation that tech companies invest heavily in innovation and research to develop means to block objectionable content before it is published.

There will also be an expectation for governments to adopt a legal framework at home to make tech companies more responsible for the online content they host.

How they do so will be up to those governments. Law changes are being eyed for NZ, where tech firms are not necessarily liable for content on their platforms, and there is no statutory duty of care.

The call will be the first agreement to include heads of state and tech companies, and will seek to address concerns over whether the firms are doing all they can to reduce online harm and whether they’ve become such global juggernauts they are essentially answerable to no one.

Ardern will also raise the issue of chasing profits at the expense of people’s safety.

One of the plans that may emerge is for governments and tech companies to share data to build a global database of words, memes and other content that would raise flags about extremist material.

This collaborative approach makes the inclusion of the United States all the more important, and on the eve of the summit there was still no indication it will be there.

The Herald understands the call to action will focus not only on livestreaming video, but on all terrorist and violent extremist content.