The internet is no safer three years on from the Christchurch terror attack

Monday, 14 March 2022

A raft of regulation and policy responses to counter extremist and harmful online content were implemented in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack, but three years on, experts say the internet is no safer – if anything, the opposite is true.

On March 15, 2019, a terrorist livestreamed himself attacking and killing worshippers in two Christchurch mosques, ultimately disseminating footage of the massacre to thousands of people.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made it clear she would be coming for the social media platforms that had spread the images of the terror attack.

And in the following weeks, she spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, host of the 2019 'Tech for Good' summit, and other world leaders, along with the heads of Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and Amazon. And they drafted a global pledge to end the spread of extremist content online, to be known as the Christchurch Call to Action.

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* White supremacy rises in New Zealand after March 15 terror attack

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Three years on, the Christchurch Call continues to grow and develop.

But as the edges of the internet continue to morph into spaces where people build communities around conspiracy theories, misinformation and extreme ideologies, it’s clear the problem is harder to identify and address than initially thought.

As these pervasive breeding grounds of hate and extremism exist in the grey, they often fall through the regulatory cracks.

Massey University media studies lecturer Kevin Veale said despite efforts to regulate the online world, and a public commitment by countries and companies to do better, we were no safer online than we were three years ago.

The recent occupation of Parliament grounds shows the real world implications of these harmful online environments, despite most of the activity falling outside the realm of explicit online terrorism or extremism.

Those tracking the protesters say they didn’t disappear after the grounds were cleared – the protest has continued online. But there’s also no guarantee disaffected communities will remain online.

Veale said the larger online communities became, the more likely it was that people would take physical action – as was the case on March 15, 2019. But companies like Facebook, YouTube and Google actively expand the size of these communities.

Internal Facebook data found 67 per cent of people had joined white supremacist groups based on a suggestion by the company’s algorithms.

And while the Christchurch Call has promised to look into the role algorithms play in radicalisation and amplification, only 10 per cent of those who’ve signed on said they thought this was an important first step.

Veale said the Christchurch Call did have huge potential.

“The problem is, it has huge potential.

Meanwhile, there appeared to be a lack of urgency, despite online harm occurring every day.

“We had people try to burn down Parliament, and we’ve gone back to business as usual,” he said.

“We are accepting s, and we’re accepting more now than we were three years ago.”

The prime minister’s special representative for cyber and digital Paul Ash said the call continued to develop, as they endeavoured to keep up with ever-evolving online spaces.

Ash said they now had more members onboard, creating a forum where countries, companies and civil society could discuss these difficult issues. They had also successfully established an emergency response protocol.

Department of Internal Affairs head of digital safety Jared Mullen said the emergency protocol came of age during last year’s terror attack in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn.

Police gave DIA a heads-up, allowing them to trigger their emergency protocol, and set up a team that worked throughout the weekend to keep online spaces free of violent or extreme content relating to the attack.

The protocol was again tested during the Parliament occupation, reacting to an alternative media outlet’s attempt to share a foreign-made conspiracy video that posits the March 15 terror attack was a “false flag”.

But those who spoke to Stuff said the work needed to go beyond the bottom-of-the-cliff responses, and work in the spaces where misinformation lies; where conspiracy and extreme ideology leads to radicalisation.

Ash said better understanding the “user journey” and the role algorithms play in radicalisation and amplification would be a priority of the Christchurch Call during the next two years.

He also acknowledged how difficult it was to strike the balance between regulation and freedom in policing these grey areas.

Inclusive Aotearoa Collective - Tāhono co-lead Anjum Rahman said there was a lot more work to do.

Rahman acknowledged progress made on the Christchurch Call and counterterrorism laws.

But like Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, Rahman criticised the stalling of hate speech legislation - another tool that could be used to address online harm.

“Every day our communities wait and the risk of more events triggered or incited by hate increases. We have had meetings galore; my suggestion is less meeting and more getting on with making Aotearoa a safer place,” Foon said on Monday.

But not every solution came in the form of legislation or regulation, Rahman said.

She cautioned against over-surveillance – something the Muslim community had been subjected to prior to the March 15 attack, and something that has been an ongoing issue for Māori.

While the government undertook a raft of policy and legislative changes in the wake of March 15, and again following the release of the report from the Royal commission of Inquiry, Muslim communities continue to face hate in both the real world and online.

A new study on islamophobia has found online anti-Muslim abuse increased 18-fold in Australia alone immediately after the Christchurch terror attack.

“Don’t treat online as an isolated, cyber, hypothetical, only-thought discourse. It is real. People behind the screen are real. They live that ideology,” the report’s chief investigator Dr Derya Iner said.

Improving transparency from governments and tech companies is another of the Christchurch Call priorities for the coming two years.

And in looking for alternative solutions, Rahman also suggested implementing independent auditing of online company’s algorithms.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt has also called for independent oversight of companies like Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter.

The companies may have created community guidelines and terms of service, but there are numerous instances in New Zealand (such as activity during the Parliament protest) and overseas (such as allowing posts urging violence against Russian invaders in Ukraine).

Businesses have human rights obligations, in the same way governments do. However, it is clear the current approach of self-policing is not working.

Rahman said there needed to be a mix of responses, from broader societal responses - like building social cohesion and inclusivity – through to specific laws regarding hate speech and online extremism.

“They are complex matters, but they’re also very urgent,” she said.