Fighting hard to ignore the irony of standing next to the leader of the only country to enact a terrorist act on NZ soil to talk about cyber terrorism.
Jacinda’s Leadership is dazzling once again on the international stage.
Leading the charge to demand social media companies face regulation to stop the live streaming of terrorist acts is noble and an appropriate response to the atrocity in Christchurch.
She has articulated concerns with a dignity that is focused on the issue minus any ego. Her humility and determination is inspiring.
Demanding to know how the algorithms help inspire red pill radicalisation ultimately cuts to the heart of the argument and puts those concerns front and centre of the debate.
Will it actually change anything?
Of course not.
The internet will keep doing what the internet does, Governments will try to use this accord as the basis for cracking down on any speech they don’t like, we will continue to scream into an ocean of subjective rage cacophony, online tribalism combined with depression and loneliness will continue to erode solidarity and the next atrocity will erupt almost on cue.
BUT.
Jacinda has made a fair fist of it and sometimes the image is what is needed to inspire the hope that personal change demands for real rebirth.
The concern domestically now is how Jacinda will take this international success and not erode the unity she has for reform by over egging the hate speech laws.
Gee ! the gnats must be thinking what can we do to be relevant
All the Nats need to do is wait for the fairy dust to leave people’s eyes and they see the poor are worse off the open government promise is a lie and the teachers still need to strike to get the system fixed and Jacinda’s smile will not win them over this time
It’s a pity that Jacinda isn’t focused on the need to overhaul the neoliberal economic system . But we can’t have everything. As it is she seems to be outstandingly the most natural ,honest, and likeable national leader on earth. It’s going to be a long long time before she is replaced for any reasons but her own.
D J S
David Stone: “It’s a pity that Jacinda isn’t focused on the need to overhaul the neoliberal economic system.”
My view as well. Leadership schmeadership: while she ponces about on the international stage with – of all people – the odious Macron, NZ citizens are suffering under the depredations of a system that she and her party promised to reform. Bah humbug!
When it comes to the Christchurch Call, it looks like pious waffle to me. But even so, I don’t trust her government not to crimp our freedoms further, in pursuit of some “safe space” chimera. Small wonder the US – the home of constitutionally-protected freedom of speech – hasn’t enthusiastically joined in. How wise of it…
Pious waffle is probably all that a PM can do in that situation, but she does it so well.
I concur with the threat to freedom of speech. I doubt if much will change though. I heard on radio that the reason US didm;t come on board was that they are well along with legislation of their own oolong those lines. They are pretty keen to shut down information they don’t want known ; look at Assange and Snowdon, and Manning. Not to mention Kim Dot Com.
D J S
Kia ora Martyn
You are too kind to Jacinda. Look at the context. A cover-up in place over the New Zealand state’s culpability in the Al Noor massacre. An unlawful ban on public access to the perpetrator’s “manifesto”. The state and the private media duopoly conspiring to determine how the trial (if there is to be a trial) shall be reported. The public domain internet is one sphere in which the regime can still be subjected to critical scrutiny and that is why Jacinda wants it brought within the ambit of state control.
When the internet goes we will still be able to discuss these things in our local communities, on the marae and in churches or mosques, and that may be all for the best. But do not be deluded into thinking that Jacinda’s motives are in any way benign. The “Christchurch call” does not come from Christchurch, and it certainly does not come from the victims of the massacre or their families. It comes from the “New Zealand Intelligence Community” which has embarked upon a political programme that will have dire consequences for the people of New Zealand.
+100…well said…but she is wearing a lovely skirt
Red Buzzard: “….but she is wearing a lovely skirt”
You think? To each his own, I guess. But then, what would I know….
@ GEOFF FISCHER…..we can have access to the “perpetrator’s manifesto”. But like everything else in this world, it comes at a price.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G1lm4OGGF4&t=1s
a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down eh martyn
Did she ‘dazzle’? Maybe that is in the eye of the beholder, but I saw little dazzle in the outcome of the ‘Christchurch Call Summit’ in Paris. It is as toothless and useless as the climate agreement signed there a few years ago, even worse.
So a hand full of tech companies signed up to voluntarily do more, and a handful of states, the European Commission not necessarily having the support of all EU members.
The US has snubbed the meeting, as Trump has other worries and interests, there are also concerns about ‘free speech’.
As most servers that provide ‘social media’ on larger platforms are based in the US, the agreement has no legal effects, unless the individual geographical countries that signed will bring in laws and measures that will close down social media companies and their websites in their various countries, i.e. block access to those sites.
That would make New Zealand no better than any of the many dictatorships, one party government states and police states that do such things regularly.
All they can otherwise rely on is on the goodwill of Twitter, Google and a few others to moderate their sites and services a bit better.
Not the mainstream media….:
‘ ‘Christchurch Call’ is a blueprint for more online censorship — and Zuckerberg is a big fan’ by Danielle Ryan
[Danielle Ryan is an Irish freelance writer based in Dublin. Her work has appeared in Salon, The Nation, Rethinking Russia, teleSUR, RBTH, The Calvert Journal and others. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleRyanJ ]
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/459523-christchurch-call-censorship-zuckerberg/
…and
‘Media collusion to censor Christchurch mosque shooter trial is understandable… and deeply sinister’ by Igor Ogorodnev
[Igor Ogorodnev is a Russian-British journalist, who has worked at RT since 2007 as a correspondent, editor and writer.]
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/458067-christchurch-shooter-trial-nz-media-protocol/
I don’t watch TV or read papers, so can anyone fill in the details of what’s happening to our fellow NZers who failed to follow orders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk9T-Od3AY8
…
???????
I agree with David S here and think that Jacinda is THE best representative NZ has had since David L, for this we can be truly appreciative. Especially considering the aweful others, John Key for example, whom Obama seemed to love…..well, well, well. The Christchurch Call can be called toothless but it is putting the secrecy algorithms run by monopoly companies in the spotlight…it is a beginning.
re Freedom of Speech (not the mainstream media)
‘No to Christchurch Call: Put aside your hate of Trump for a day – he may have just saved free speech’
https://www.rt.com/news/459563-christchurch-call-trump-macron/
“…What is certain is that any filtering, reporting and pre-moderation technologies developed as a result of the Christchurch Call will be adopted with enthusiasm by genuinely repressive regimes, and likely deployed by the California giants themselves at the request of such governments, who will cite their own anti-extremism legislation.
By abstaining from the document, the US now has a chance not only of protecting its own population, but of sabotaging the entire Christchurch Call project. All the companies involved are still operating primarily under US jurisdiction, so they will be shielded from these initiatives. Indeed, if they decide to impose these measures over the will of American citizens, they leave themselves open to First Amendment-based government regulation, and what may eventually become costly lawsuits.
So, there remains one opportunity here to drop the partisan politics, and rally behind the White House decision for the sake of free speech – if you believe in it. By not making it a Donald Trump versus the World issue, there is a chance to help not only Americans, but the cause of freedom around the globe.”
…also
‘CrossTalk on Christianity: Forgotten persecution’
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/458967-china-christians-persecution-highlights/
“A recent report from the UK’s Foreign Office highlights in detail the persecution of Christians around the world. In the Middle East – the cradle of Christianity – adherents face extinction. Why is it deemed politically incorrect to defend the West’s foundational religion?
CrossTalking with Iben Thranholm, David Vance, and Peter Tatchell.”
( all this is interesting when taking into consideration that there have been many calls for the censorship and barring of RT)
Comments are closed.