United States decides to join ‘Christchurch call’ to fight online terrorism

The details of the engagement have yet to be clarified in practice, but the United States has taken an important step in joining the international movement against online extremism.

Washington “Go join Christchurch’s call to act against terrorism and violent extremism online, a global commitment of governments and technology partners to work together to combat terrorist and violent extremist content online ”, said Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the White House.

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Thechristchurch call was launched after a massacre that killed 51 people in March 2019 in two mosques in this city in southern New Zealand, the images of which had been shared live on the internet by the killer and widely disseminated.

It aimed to prevent the dissemination of images or content produced by terrorist groups during attacks and notably led to a reform of the Global Internet Forum against Terrorism (GIFCT), initially founded by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube, and now become a place of exchange between governments and Internet players to block the dissemination of terrorist content.

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“Fight against the use of the internet by terrorists and violent extremists to radicalize and recruit [d’autres personnes] is an important priority for the United States. Joining the coalition of governments and businesses that have supported Christchurch’s call strengthens the need for collective action ”, Jen Psaki pointed out.

A virtual summit on May 14

In 2019, the United States justified its decision not to side with the appeal, launched by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron, by a desire to protect freedom of expression, all by affirming nevertheless to support the objectives of this initiative.

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The White House indicated, Friday, to continue to want to defend this freedom. “The United States applauds the terms of the Christchurch appeal which underline the importance of respect for human rights and the rule of law, including the protection of freedom of expression”, continued Jen Psaki in her press release.

“By joining Christchurch’s call, the United States will not take actions that violate the freedoms of expression and association protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, nor violate reasonable expectations of private life. ” She said Washington would attend a virtual summit on the subject on May 14.

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