On 15 March 2019, a terrorist attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people and injuring 50. The horrific event was live-streamed by the terrorist for 17 minutes, and was viewed over 4,000 times before being removed. This terrorist attack made clear once again the harms that can be caused by terrorist and violent extremist content online. It has been recognised as an issue that transcends borders and platforms and one that requires a global solution. The incident became a catalyst for global action.
On 15 May 2019, two months to the day after the attack, New Zealand Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, and French President, His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, brought together Heads of State and Government and leaders from the technology sector to adopt the Christchurch Call. The Christchurch Call is a commitment by Governments and online service providers to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. It rests on the conviction that a free, open and secure internet offers extraordinary benefits to society.
The Christchurch Call is a community of over 120 governments, online service providers, and civil society organisations acting together to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The Call’s leaders body has been led by the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, who led the Christchurch Call’s Leader’s Conference in New York in 2022. Tech companies involved in the Call include Amazon, Meta, Google, Youtube, Zoom, Microsoft, and various others.
The initiative is run in parallel with the Christchurch Call Advisory Network, which includes civil society groups who represent a range of perspectives, including human rights, freedom of expression, digital rights, counter-radicalization, victim support, and public policy. The Network recently had the appointment of Jacinda Ardern as the Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call and is currently overseen by three Co-Chairs, including Anjum Rahman, the New Zealand Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand, Farzaneh Badii, founder of Digital Medusa, and Katy Vaughan, Cyber Research Threats from the University of Swansea.
The GSF is the first youth-based organisation to join the Call Advisory Network. Our delegates to the Network include Sebastian Berger, Ellen Dixon, Jacob Blasius and Sherine Ormondi, who will focus on the interests of students in topics such as violations of student rights online, radicalisation of schools by militias, disinformation, AI in educational assessment, cyberbullying, biodata collection, and other relevant topics for students across the world.
