Microsoft urges US to sign pledge

White House balks on free speech fears but Ardern says principle protected

Microsoft president Brad Smith says he would like the US Government to sign up to the Christchurch Call to Action and would continue to nudge them in that direction.

The White House released a statement yesterday saying the US Government supported the principles of the call, but was not willing to sign on at this stage due to free speech concerns.

Microsoft was one of eight tech companies and 17 countries, as well as the European Commission, to sign up to the call after the summit in Paris yesterday.

It is an unprecedented agreement in which signatories pledge to eliminate terrorist content and violent extremism online.

US officials said they stand “with the international community in condemning terrorist and violent extremist content online,” and support the goals of the Call to Action.

But the White House said in a statement it is “not currently in a position to join the endorsement”.

“We continue to be proactive in our efforts to counter terrorist content online while also continuing to respect freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

Smith said he “would have loved” the US Government to sign up and expected that more countries and tech companies would sign on in the coming months.

“We’ll continue to encourage the US Government to support this in a variety of different ways.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted that the Call to Action preserved the principles of legitimate free speech.

Given that, she would not say whether the US had anything to fear

from signing up. “Ultimately that was a decision for them. The fact they took the step of putting out a supportive statement does speak volumes.

“Contact with the US will be ongoing.”

Ardern wrapped up the French leg of her trip yesterday morning with a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau paid tribute to Ardern and her leadership on the Christchurch Call to Action, which Canada has signed.

Trudeau said it would commit “to a positive path forward to counter radicalisation and bring people together”.

Radicalisation is not expressly mentioned in the Call to Action, but it is part of the broader issue of preventing social media users from being sucked into the algorithmic rabbit holes that can lead to extreme views.

“Your leadership following Christchurch resonated around the world,” Trudeau said.

“There’s a lot more to do, but

having the tech companies in this conversation is already a first important step.”

Ardern thanked Canada for taking the time to travel to Paris to sign the call, and echoed French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments that the support of Canada was important given that the United States had not signed.

“Those expressions of freedom of speech can live in harmony with what we are trying to do with the work against violent extremism.”