New Zealand: PM Ardern takes steps against extremist content online

Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern announced on October 14 that over the span of four years, 17 million New Zealand dollars would be spent in the improvement of resourcing for the country's chief censor and censorship compliance unit. This resourcing is also the latest response from the government to the Christchurch mosque attacks in March, when a gunman killed 51 Muslims during their time of Prayer on March 15 and also live-streamed the shooting on Facebook. The video was later shared on Twitter, YouTube, Whatsapp, and Instagram.

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The investment

According to PM Ardern, the investment would result in intensifying the investigative, forensic, intelligence along with the prevention work by the Department of Internal Affairs. Moreover, a new team of nearly 17 people will also be dedicated to tackling extremist violent content on Social Media. PM Ardern also said that the online world should be a force of good for the exchange of ideas and sharing technology while maintaining civil liberties. The new powers for the Internal Affairs department also include investigation and prosecution of those who commit crimes through both, proactive detection as well as the ones working with international or domestic partners. 

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Another reminder: Germany Attack 

The New Zealand PM also said during the press conference that the attack on Germany was another example of the extremist content online. The Social media firms are committed to PM Ardern's movement called “Christchurch Call”, which was also proven when the footage of the shooting outside a German synagogue was scrambled across platforms. The attack was live-streamed on Amazon's gaming offshoot, Twitch. Similar to the New Zealand shooting, the video copies of the German attack also swiftly made it to the other online platforms. It was further shared by both, the supports of the gunman as well as the critics who condemned his anti-Semitic ideology. 

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(With agency inputs)