New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to tackle online extremism as special envoy for Christchurch Call

Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, will assume a new position where she will work with other governments and social media companies to combat extremist and terrorist content online.

Ardern was named special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position, by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday night, reported the Guardian.

After the Christchurch mosque killings on March 15, 2019, in which a white supremacist attacked two mosques and killed 51 people, Ardern founded The Christchurch Call.

In the months that followed the attack, Ardern launched the initiative to pressure social media companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to implement stronger safeguards against the spread of extremist violent content. The attack was livestreamed and broadcast on a number of social media platforms.

“I … still feel a duty at a personal level to the commu nity who are affected by this tragedy,” Ardern said in an interview on Tuesday evening, her first since her resignation in January. “I knew that I would have the time to do it. And I certainly have the passion for it,” she said.

“The March 15 terror attacks on Christchurch masjidain were a defining moment for our country and Jacinda Ardern’s leadership and the Christchurch Call is part of our response to those attacks,” Hipkins said.

“Jacinda Ardern’s commitment to stopping violent extremist content like we saw that day is key to why she should carry on this work. Her relationships with leaders and technology companies and her drive for change will help increase the pace and ambition of the work we are doing,” he said.

The Christchurch Call project encourages member countries to enact and implement laws that prohibit offensive content and establish standards for how traditional media can cover terrorist acts without amplifying them.

After significant rifts over vaccination, the nation's response to Covid, and Ardern as a personality surfaced, the former prime minister remarked in her first significant media appearances since resigning that she thought her resignation may calm the political discourse in New Zealand.

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