NZ wants to oust terrorists from social media

New Zealand and France will work together to banish terrorists from social media networks, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Wednesday.

She and French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a meeting with world leaders and tech companies in May, her office said, and attempt to get them to agree to a pledge called the "Christchurch Call."

The announcement follows a series of actions by Ardern in the wake of the March 15 Islamophobic terrorist attacks in Christchurch that killed 50 people. The alleged perpetrator livestreamed the attack on social media. 

"The March 15 terrorist attacks saw social media used in an unprecedented way as a tool to promote an act of terrorism and hate. We are asking for a show of leadership to ensure social media cannot be used again the way it was in the March 15 terrorist attack," Ardern said in a statement.

"We all need to act, and that includes social media providers taking more responsibility for the content that is on their platforms, and taking action so that violent extremist content cannot be published and shared."

Read more: Christchurch and the myth of the lone wolf attacker

Hardline approach

She wants to stop terrorists from using social media to organize and promote terrorism and violent extremism, or distribute images of violence.

New Zealand has taken a hard-line approach to people sharing footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings, which spread rapidly through social media despite attempts to stamp it out.

The meeting was also announced by the Elysee, which said it would take place on the second convening of the "Tech for Good" conference that Macron initiated last year.

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