As French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meet in Paris to sign “the Christchurch Call,” an international agreement designed to pressure the large internet platforms and social media to eradicate extremist content, the White House has released a statement saying it will not sign.
The Christchurch Call resulted from the March 2019 terrorist attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 people. The attack was live streamed and seen by many online.
Prime Minister Ardern has become an advocate for preventing violent and extremist content from online exposure. Many online platforms, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have agreed to work harder to keep terrorist material offline, reports Adam Satariano for the New York Times.
Questions remain about how new regulations would impact free speech.
Ardern and Macron plan to discuss these issues further at a meeting of Group of 7 leaders later this year and at the United Nations General Assembly this September.
