Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to begin new role combating online extremism
The Hindu
After stepping down as New Zealand’s Prime Minister in January, Jacinda Ardern is starting an unpaid role combating online extremism.
Jacinda Ardern, who stepped down as New Zealand's Prime Minister in January, will begin an unpaid role this month combating online extremism.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who took over as leader from Ms. Ardern, announced on April 4 he'd appointed Ms. Ardern as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call. Mr. Hipkins said Ms. Ardern would begin the part-time role this month, right after she leaves Parliament and that she'd declined to accept any pay. He said the role would be reviewed at the end of the year.
Ms. Ardern launched the Christchurch Call with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019, two months after a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. The gunman live-streamed the slaughter for 17 minutes on Facebook before the video was taken down.
Christchurch Call's goal is to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. More than 50 countries have since signed up to the Christchurch Call, including the U.S., Britain, Germany and South Korea. Tech companies to sign up include Facebook parent company Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, YouTube, Zoom and Twitter.
The group says it has had success developing new online safety systems and is studying the implications of fast-rising technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“The Christchurch Call is a foreign policy priority for the government and Jacinda Ardern is uniquely placed to keep pushing forward with the goal of eliminating violent extremist content online,” Mr. Hipkins said.
He said Ms. Ardern would report directly to him.