tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/christchurch-call-70827/articlesChristchurch Call – The Conversation2022-12-05T23:44:56Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1957122022-12-05T23:44:56Z2022-12-05T23:44:56ZIt’s not just Twitter. The whole Internet is broken and we’d better fix it soon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498831/original/file-20221205-16605-a7lkzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C251%2C5507%2C2598&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the debate about Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter tells us anything, it’s that people – including those in governments – don’t understand how the World Wide Web works. </p>
<p>We know that the algorithms Twitter uses to recommend content can guide people to develop more extreme views, but what is considered extreme has changed since Musk’s takeover. Many things he considers free speech would previously have been thought to be derogatory, misogynistic, violent or harmful in many other ways.</p>
<p>Many countries, including Aotearoa New Zealand as the co-initiator of the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018860941/christchurch-call-pushes-against-the-algorithms">Christchurch Call</a>, are looking to Twitter and other platform providers to allow analysis of their algorithms and more transparency about their effects on individuals and the social fabric.</p>
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<p>But what the Christchurch Call doesn’t address is a much more fundamental question that governments should think about with urgency. Is it appropriate that the infrastructure to host citizen discourse and engagement is in the private and profit-oriented hands of multinational data monopolies?</p>
<p>Privately owned social media platforms now house a significant portion of important public debates essential to democracy. They have become core to the modern public sphere, and as such they have to be considered a critical part of public infrastructure. </p>
<p>But they are set up to collect and monetise people’s data. It is time for governments to help their citizens take back control of that data. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-twitter-takeover-has-disrupted-the-christchurch-call-nz-needs-to-rethink-its-digital-strategy-195213">Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has disrupted the Christchurch Call – NZ needs to rethink its digital strategy</a>
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<h2>The Web is broken</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://home.web.cern.ch/resources/video/computing/brief-history-world-wide-web">World Wide Web</a> started out as a global network with a set of open technical standards to make it easy to give someone from a remote computer (also known as the client) access to information on a computer under someone else’s control (also known as the server).</p>
<p>Embedded into the Web standards is a principle called <a href="http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html">hypertext</a>, which means the reader can choose to follow hyperlinks, browsing the global network of information in a self-directed fashion. </p>
<p>In the late 1980s and 1990s, people created their own websites, manually authoring HTML pages and linking to content other people had published. This was superseded by content management systems and – maybe more importantly – <a href="https://online.ndm.edu/news/communication/history-of-blogging/">blog software</a>. </p>
<p>Blogs unlocked content publishing for the masses, but it was only when social media platforms emerged – commonly also known as Web 2.0 – that literally everyone with access to the Internet could become a producer of content. And this is when the Web broke, more than 15 years ago. It has been broken ever since.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-global-decline-in-democracy-linked-to-social-media-we-combed-through-the-evidence-to-find-out-193841">Is the global decline in democracy linked to social media? We combed through the evidence to find out</a>
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<p>Social media platforms not only put content beyond the control of those who created it, they also sit as a monolithic interface between a whole generation and the actual Web. Gen Z has never experienced the decentralised nature of the technologies that make the apps they use work.</p>
<p>Each social media platform instead tries to make the entire World Wide Web just one application on one big server. This principle is true for Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and all the other social media applications. </p>
<p>The outcome is that platforms collect interactions in order to profile users and guide them to content through “recommender” algorithms. This means people can be
directed to products they can purchase, or their <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44793247">data and behavioral insights</a> can be sold to other businesses.</p>
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<img alt="Aerial view of people and connecting lines between them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C351%2C4514%2C2416&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498830/original/file-20221205-37961-sk1as7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Social media platforms collect interactions to profile users and guide them to content.</span>
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<h2>How to fix the Internet</h2>
<p>In response to the disruption from Musk’s Twitter acquisition we have seen governments and institutions set up their own servers to join the <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-joins-mastodon-social-network-sets-up-its-own-server">decentralised microblogging system Mastodon</a>. These institutions can now validate the identity of users they host and ensure their content lies within their own terms and potentially legal requirements.</p>
<p>However, taking back control of microposts is not enough to fix the broken Web. Social media platforms have made attempts in the past to entrench more fundamental functions such as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/12/what-facebooks-european-payment-license-could-mean-for-banks/">payments and banking</a>. And people have been arbitrarily locked out of platforms, without a legal way to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/airbnb-banned-account/">regain access</a>. </p>
<p>Considering wide-ranging regulation on its own won’t solve the problem in the long term and at a global scale.</p>
<p>Instead, governments will need to assess which digital services and data currently hosted on social media platforms are critical parts of modern democratic societies. Then, they’ll have to build national data infrastructures that allow citizens to stay in control of their data, protected by their government. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-are-leaving-twitter-for-mastodon-but-are-they-ready-for-democratic-social-media-194220">People are leaving Twitter for Mastodon, but are they ready for democratic social media?</a>
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<p>We can expect a new ecosystem of digital services to develop around those data infrastructures, but one that doesn’t disenfranchise individuals or make them the product of surveillance capitalism.</p>
<p>This is not a Utopian vision. The Flemish government in Belgium has announced the <a href="https://www.vlaanderen.be/digitaal-vlaanderen/het-vlaams-datanutsbedrijf/the-flemish-data-utility-company">establishment of a data-utility company</a> to facilitate a digital ecosystem based on personal data vaults. Citizens control these vaults and any digital services that need the data interact with them if given permission (for example, public transport payment systems or content-sharing systems like Twitter).</p>
<p>Various blockchain businesses want to make people believe their technology allows a “Web3”, but the technologies to achieve this vision are already available and they leverage the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/04/web-inventor-tim-berners-lee-wants-us-to-ignore-web3.html">original standards of the World Wide Web</a>. Web technologies for decentralisation and openness have been called Web 3.0 for about 20 years now. They have matured into robust market-ready products for <a href="https://www.inrupt.com/blog/flanders-solid">personal data vaults</a>.</p>
<p>Governments now have to build the technical back end with regulatory oversight to ensure algorithmic transparency and trusted digital transactions. We need rich data infrastructures, run by data-utility companies. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://solidproject.org/">technologies</a> and expertise are readily available, but we need greater awareness of what real technical decentralisation means, and why it will protect citizens and democracy in the long run.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195712/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Markus Luczak-Roesch received funding from the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge under the Veracity Technology spearhead project. He is also affiliated with Te Pūnaha Matatini – the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence for Complex Systems.</span></em></p>Many digital services currently hosted on social media platforms are critical to democracy. Governments must build alternative infrastructures that allow citizens to control their own data.Markus Luczak-Roesch, Associate Professor in Information Systems, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952132022-11-23T22:30:03Z2022-11-23T22:30:03ZElon Musk’s Twitter takeover has disrupted the Christchurch Call – NZ needs to rethink its digital strategy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497110/original/file-20221123-14-ie9y4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5455%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter as the new sole private owner has delivered plenty of material for memes. Ironically, much of the debate about Twitter is still happening on the platform itself, sometimes with Musk jumping into the conversations personally.</p>
<p>At the same time, a significant number of active Twitter users (mostly those focused on fair and equitable online behaviour, including researchers, journalists and digital natives) have decided to leave the platform and migrate elsewhere.</p>
<p>The decentralised social media ecosystem of Mastodon has been a prime beneficiary. Media have been busy <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/internet/07-11-2022/why-is-everyone-leaving-twitter-for-mastodon">explaining Mastodon</a> and how best to <a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-breaking-up-with-twitter-heres-the-right-way-to-do-it-195002">quit Twitter</a>.</p>
<p>But what might sound like a funny disruption in the social media landscape is actually a serious matter with important challenges for democracy in the digital age. And it raises questions about whether the New Zealand government is well equipped and advised to deal with those challenges.</p>
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<h2>Antisocial media</h2>
<p>At the end of September, the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018860941/christchurch-call-pushes-against-the-algorithms">government announced</a> it would partner with Microsoft, Twitter and the US government to develop technologies that could reveal how algorithms influence users’ political beliefs and potential actions. </p>
<p>The collaboration was a direct outcome of the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/">Christchurch Call</a>, the initiative begun two years ago after the terrorist attacks on two mosques in the city. Its aim is to tackle the problem of online platforms acting as breeding grounds for extremist views and violence, threatening the democratic social fabric.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacinda-ardern-calls-for-ethical-algorithms-to-combat-online-extremism-what-this-means-160986">Jacinda Ardern calls for 'ethical algorithms' to combat online extremism. What this means</a>
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<p>However, one of Musk’s first actions was to fire Twitter’s head of legal, Vijaya Gadde, and people from the machine learning, ethics, transparency and accountability team <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/welp-there-goes-twitter-s-ethical-ai-team-among-others-as-employees-post-final-messages/ar-AA13KpdI">headed by Rumman Chowdhury</a>. Seemingly, Musk considers their work and advocacy for algorithmic transparency and content moderation goes against his vision of free speech on the Twitter platform. </p>
<p>The entire team the New Zealand government was planning to work with disappeared. And it’s unlikely any work outlined in September will actually eventuate.</p>
<p>While algorithmic transparency on Twitter is important, the Christchurch Call will only be fully effective if all social media platforms are included. Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and TikTok’s parent company Bytedance remain outside the initiative.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-hardcore-management-style-a-case-study-in-what-not-to-do-194999">Elon Musk's 'hardcore' management style: a case study in what not to do</a>
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<p>The young people who dominate Tiktok’s user base are regularly exposed to questionable or unacceptable content by so-called influencers. Seemingly harmless on the surface, these messages can sometimes carry <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/16-08-2022/who-is-andrew-tate-and-why-is-everybody-talking-about-him-now">misogynistic, ultra-conservative and racist themes</a>. </p>
<p>The TikTok app is also known for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/08/opinion/tiktok-twitter-china-bytedance.htm">more invasive personal data collection</a> than Twitter. But Chinese government influence makes any algorithmic transparency or regulation of the platform highly unlikely at this stage.</p>
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<h2>Not just cables in the ground</h2>
<p>The realistic possibility of the algorithmic transparency collaboration not leading to any real outcomes is a blow for New Zealand and other democratic countries. The issues it seeks to address are critical, but the government was arguably badly advised to partner with Big Tech players on such a fundamental project. </p>
<p>Platforms like Twitter and Facebook (but also large multi-national cloud computing providers) have become critical parts of countries’ digital infrastructure. They can play a formal role when they run public-sector services such as the cloud data back-ends of our national tax and immigration systems, or an informal one when they host <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051211035357">citizen discourse and activism</a>. </p>
<p>A change in acquisition can change their strategic direction, the values and culture they reflect, and their openness to use by people in certain countries or members of certain groups.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-elon-musks-destruction-of-twitter-tells-us-about-the-future-of-social-media-194895">What Elon Musk's destruction of Twitter tells us about the future of social media</a>
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<p>New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recognises the threat and even described social media platforms in her recent UN speech as “<a href="https://youtu.be/q_4Cjki3SOM?t=626">a weapon of war</a>” – something <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/tim-berners-lee-web-weapon-regulation-open-letter">foreign</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/109464200/the-web-is-broken-we-need-to-fix-it">domestic</a> experts have been warning about for years. </p>
<p>But it’s now time for the New Zealand government to acknowledge that digital infrastructure policy is no longer just about cables in the ground to get everyone connected. </p>
<p>It is also about developing robust national data infrastructures, similar to the European Union’s <a href="https://www.data-infrastructure.eu/GAIAX/Navigation/EN/Home/home.html">GAIA-X initiative</a> or the <a href="https://openenergy.org.uk/about/">Open Energy</a> programme in the UK, which protect businesses and citizens in a global digital ecosystem. This will require real expertise in technology development and regulation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-twitter-blue-fiasco-governments-need-to-better-regulate-how-companies-use-trademarks-194789">Elon Musk's Twitter Blue fiasco: Governments need to better regulate how companies use trademarks</a>
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<h2>NZ needs a new plan</h2>
<p>In its recent <a href="https://www.digital.govt.nz/dmsdocument/238%7E202223-action-plan-for-the-digital-strategy-for-aotearoa/html">digital strategy action plan</a>, however, the government made no explicit commitment to fostering a national digital economy based on local technology development. </p>
<p>Instead, recent large investments in digital infrastructure, such as the NZ$1.3 billion <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/477115/new-1-point-3b-single-payment-system-for-public-transport-announced">single-ticketing system</a> for public transport, suggest it is happy to look for overseas solutions. </p>
<p>It seems the government still sees this country as a consumer of overseas digital technology rather than a technology creator. Meanwhile, other countries <a href="https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2022/11/22/france_no_windows_google/">such as France</a> have moved away from outsourcing their digital infrastructure due to concerns about data sovereignty, competition and privacy.</p>
<p>The recent upheavals at Twitter are a reminder that New Zealand needs to shift its digital strategy. Not to do so risks putting the country’s businesses and citizens in a dangerously dependent position for decades to come. Alternatively, New Zealand can evolve to become a progressive knowledge economy with vibrant digital innovation that supports everyone to live well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Markus Luczak-Roesch received funding from the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge under the Veracity Technology spearhead project. He is also affiliated with Te Pūnaha Matatini – the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence for Complex Systems.</span></em></p>Radical change at Twitter shows how quickly strategies and values can shift in Big Tech. New Zealand needs to be less reliant on overseas solutions for its own digital infrastructure plans.Markus Luczak-Roesch, Associate Professor in Information Systems, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1673362021-09-04T09:57:02Z2021-09-04T09:57:02ZNew Zealand’s latest terror attack shows why ISIS is harder to defeat online than on the battlefield<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419361/original/file-20210904-13-1kicw7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C60%2C2360%2C1512&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fiona Goodall/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Friday’s attack by an <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300399457/auckland-supermarket-terrorist-inspired-by-isis-can-be-named--but-not-yet?rm=a">ISIS sympathiser</a> in a New Zealand supermarket has shown, ISIS’s extreme ideology still holds strong appeal for some disaffected Muslims living in the west. ISIS ideology did not die in Syria and Iraq with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-defeats-the-islamic-state-remains-unbroken-and-defiant-around-the-world-128971">defeat of ISIL</a> and its plans to establish a caliphate. </p>
<p>ISIS continues to be a <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/real-world-capabilities-isis-threat-continues">radicalising influence</a> on those susceptible to anti-western narratives. Social networks, the dark web and encrypted platforms continue to facilitate the global spread of its beliefs. </p>
<p>The Sir Lankan-born national responsible for Friday’s terrorist attack had previously been <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58405213">found to possess ISIS content</a> on his personal computing devices and been <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300399322/auckland-terror-attacker-never-underwent-judgeordered-psychologist-assessment">banned from accessing social media sites</a> for this very reason. </p>
<p>That’s why we should be wary of describing him as a “lone wolf”. He may have acted alone, with no direct assistance from a terrorist group. But his ideology and process of radicalisation are connected to global groups deliberately seeking to promote their vicious world view and attract new adherents to their cause.</p>
<h2>Why ISIS is so hard to beat</h2>
<p>While the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a temporary chilling effect on radicalism, there are concerns that in the post-pandemic era, <a href="https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/ctc/content/update-impact-covid-19-pandemic-terrorism-counter-terrorism-and-countering-violent-extremism">terrorism will become a bigger problem globally</a>. </p>
<p>ISIS was never truly defeated. Their military defeat in Iraq and Syria has led to the diffusion of the threat to other countries, including Afghanistan. Following the Taliban’s declaration of an Islamic emirate in Afghanistan, there are concerns about a resurgence of Islamic violence internationally.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/afghanistan-isis-k-violence-could-force-the-west-into-an-unlikely-alliance-with-taliban-166916">Afghanistan: ISIS-K violence could force the west into an unlikely alliance with Taliban</a>
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<p>The Taliban are no friends of ISIS and there has already been some cooperation with the new Taliban government to protect Kabul airport from ISIS attacks. But extremists will have been inspired by the defeat of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, and buoyed to continue their global aspiration for conflict between Muslim and non-Muslim peoples. </p>
<h2>NZ’s global efforts to fight online terrorists</h2>
<p>New Zealand is already pursuing international collaborations, including the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/christchurch-call-70827">Christchurch Call</a>, to help eliminate terrorism online. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/digital-diplomacy/news/article/the-christchurch-call-what-progress-has-been-made-12-may-2021">Some progress has been made</a>, including reforming the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, creating a crisis response protocol for effective cooperation in the event of terrorist incidents with an online component, and greater involvement in the online counter-terrorism effort from civil society. </p>
<p>Hoewever, the threat landscape continues to evolve. There is now increased attention on the role of social media algorithms in directing users to extremist content, and the continued global threat from far-right groups, including <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/biden-trump-electoral-college-certification-congress/card/x1dwwPqnJM1XfQh5LaUj">the attack on the US Capitol</a> earlier this year, which was organised online. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Ardern’s recent call for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacinda-ardern-calls-for-ethical-algorithms-to-combat-online-extremism-what-this-means-160986">ethical algorithms</a>” to stop the risk and spread of extremist online content highlights the importance of the issue to the New Zealand government.</p>
<p>New Zealand has also committed to joining the <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/the-budapest-convention">Budapest Convention</a> on cyber crime, which guides countries developing comprehensive national legislation against online crime. It also provides a framework for international cooperation to counter aspects of violent extremism, including investigations into extremism on social media and the dark web. </p>
<p>Beyond international efforts, New Zealand’s government is establishing a national centre of excellence on violent extremism to boost research and more effective counter-terrorism policy. </p>
<h2>Why preventing attacks is so challenging</h2>
<p>The type of attack committed in New Zealand on Friday is very difficult to prevent. It follows a number of similar incidents, including the killing of UK soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 and the more recent 2017 London Bridge attack, in which eight people were killed by a vehicle and knife attack by an Islamic extremist.</p>
<p>It raises questions about the role of New Zealand’s security services. The Auckland supermarket attacker had been monitored since 2017 for his extremist beliefs — and was even being followed by police on Friday before he began <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300370823/auckland-terror-attack-victims-aged-between-29-and-77-three-still-in-critical-condition">stabbing people</a>, which is how they were able to shoot him <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-mall-supermarket-terrorist-attack-witness-accounts-of-the-60-seconds-of-horror-in-new-lynn-countdown-pm-jacinda-ardern-a-despicable-act/BG4BRKNYBDI2P2M3J5R46HDGJU/">within a minute</a>. But this also points to some inherent difficulties in New Zealand’s and global counter-terrorism efforts.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-needs-to-go-beyond-fast-tracking-counter-terrorism-laws-to-reduce-the-risk-of-future-attacks-167338">New Zealand needs to go beyond fast-tracking counter-terrorism laws to reduce the risk of future attacks</a>
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<p>The first problem is one of resources. Even though there are relatively few radicals living in New Zealand, security services still find it difficult to mount 24-hour surveillance of individuals who may plan to carry out acts of violence. </p>
<p>It remains difficult to stop offenders acting on their violent beliefs, especially in random attacks like the one in Auckland, and impossible to predict when or if their beliefs will translate into action.</p>
<p>More comprehensive and intrusive electronic surveillance of internet platforms is one option, but democratic societies like New Zealand are naturally reticent to use more heavy-handed practices, especially because whole communities can feel targeted. </p>
<p>Countering extremism can lead to further division and resentment, a lesson New Zealand policy makers have learned in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque attacks. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s security services cannot arrest and hold people for their beliefs alone, and rightly so. This is the ultimate intractable problem with modern counter-terrorism. </p>
<h2>Social cohesion is the key</h2>
<p>Perhaps the best and only way forward in countering such attacks is community resilience and cohesion. The New Zealand Muslim community has already <a href="https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/new-lynn-terrorist-attack">expressed its horror</a> at this callous act of violence and will be concerned about any rise in anti-Muslim sentiment that may result from it. </p>
<p>New Zealand was able to take an international lead following the Christchurch attacks, and the national solidarity demonstrated in the aftermath of the attack was a lesson for other nations dealing with the scourge of terrorism.</p>
<p>Friday’s terrorist attack took place amid the global backdrop of the US and allied withdrawal from Afghanistan and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-isis-k-two-terrorism-experts-on-the-group-behind-the-deadly-kabul-airport-attack-and-its-rivalry-with-the-taliban-166873">attack by ISIS-K</a>, an Afghan affiliate of ISIS, which killed 13 US military personnel and over 150 civilians at Kabul airport. </p>
<p>It would be a stretch to draw any direct links between terrorism in central Asia and the attack in Auckland. But it shows that ISIS continues to recruit online and is harder to defeat there than on the battlefield.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Research for this work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 844129.</span></em></p>As Friday’s attack by an ISIS sympathiser in a New Zealand supermarket shows, ISIS’s extreme ideology still holds strong appeal for some disaffected Muslims living in the west.Joe Burton, Senior Lecturer, New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1609862021-05-17T20:07:01Z2021-05-17T20:07:01ZJacinda Ardern calls for ‘ethical algorithms’ to combat online extremism. What this means<p>New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has called for “ethical algorithms” to help stop online radicalisation.</p>
<p>She made her call on the weekend at the second summit of the “<a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/index.html">Christchurch Call</a>” for action to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. </p>
<p>The first Christchurch Call summit was convened by Ardern and French president Emmanuel Macron in May 2019. It took place two months after New Zealand’s first and worst mass shooting in decades, the Christchurch mosque shootings, in which a 28-year-old Australian gunman killed 51 men, women and children. </p>
<p>The Christchurch Call is a voluntary compact between governments and technology companies. So far 55 nations have signed on – with the most notable new signatory <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-technology-government-and-politics-edb4e1cd037984509c3dc04178637f5c">being the United States</a>, which refused to join under Donald Trump. </p>
<p>Google (which owns YouTube), Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Amazon have also signed on, as well as Japanese messaging app LINE, French search engine Qwant and video-sharing sites Daily Motion and JeuxVideo.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trump supporters, believing false claims a election was stolen, try to break through a police barrier at the US Capitol in on January 6 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400955/original/file-20210517-21-su57r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump supporters, believing false claims a election was stolen, try to break through a police barrier at the US Capitol in on January 6 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Minchillo/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In light of clear examples of extremist behaviour still being fomented online – the storming of the US Capitol in January being a case in point – one might question how much has been achieved. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/two-years-on-from-the-christchurch-terror-attack-how-much-has-really-changed-156850">Two years on from the Christchurch terror attack, how much has really changed?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the weekend Arden, while noting the progress made in areas such as the platforms’ protocols for moderating and removing extremist content, singled out <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/15/jacinda-ardern-calls-for-ethical-algorithms-to-help-stop-online-radicalisation">the need for ethical algorithms</a>. Here’s why.</p>
<h2>How social media platforms serve content</h2>
<p>Imagine a large, vast restaurant. Service here works in an interesting way. </p>
<p>The waiters dash around the restaurant to bring diners as much food as they can eat. They don’t take orders but effectively direct you to what you will eat by putting that food in front of you. </p>
<p>The restaurant owner has designed it this way, to keep you eating as much as possible. </p>
<p>How do the waiters know what you like? They have a record of what you ate last time. They listen in on your table conversation. You mention you feel like French fries? They will bring you buckets of fries over and over. </p>
<p>At first you think: “Isn’t this wonderful, these waiters know just what I like.” </p>
<p>But the waiters don’t care about what you like. They just want you to keep eating. Even if the food is unhealthy and increases your risk of disease or death. No matter. They’ll keep bringing it as long as you keep eating.</p>
<p>If these waiters were ethical, if they cared about your well-being, they might bring you healthy alternatives. They might put a salad before you. If the restaurant owner was ethical, the service would not be designed to encourage overeating. It would seek to interest you in something else.</p>
<p>But then you might stop eating. You might leave the restaurant. That would hurt profits.</p>
<h2>Algorithms are designed to decide what we see</h2>
<p>Social media algorithms work the same as the service in our metaphorical restaurant. Algorithms are tech companies’ <a href="https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/algorithms/">secret recipes</a> to keep users on their platforms. </p>
<p>The easiest way to do that is serve you content you like – perhaps with even more salt, sugar and fat. </p>
<p>On YouTube it’s more of the same type of content you’ve been watching. Like videos of stray dogs being rescued? You’ll get more of those recommended to you. If it’s videos about governments hiding alien technology, you’ll get more of those.</p>
<p>Facebook works a little bit differently. It will recommend groups for you to join based on your interests. If you’ve joined a group about native birds, or ascending to the fifth dimension, more such groups will be recommended to you. Those groups enable you to interact with and make “friends’ with others who share your interests and beliefs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-facebook-created-its-own-supreme-court-for-judging-content-6-questions-answered-160349">Why Facebook created its own ‘supreme court’ for judging content – 6 questions answered</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Repetition and normalisation</h2>
<p>These strategies reinforce and normalise our interests and views. They are crucial reasons for the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-00546-3">viral-like spread</a> of extremism. </p>
<p>An idea, no matter how absurd or extreme, becomes more acceptable
if <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR400/RR453/RAND_RR453.pdf">repeated over and over again</a>. Advertisers know this. So do propagandists. The more we view videos and posts pushing the same ideas, and connect with people who share the same views, the more we feel we’re normal and it’s those who disagree with us who are deluded. </p>
<p>This radicalisation is a social phenomenon. It is also a business. </p>
<p>Those pushing or holding radical ideas often think they are opposing Big Tech and other corporate interests. They couldn’t be more wrong. Extremist content is a lucrative market segment. Keeping your eyes on a page, enthralling you and reinforcing your views is a way for content creators, social influencers and the platforms themselves to make bank, boost their ego and spread their message. Which, in turn, legitimises their message.</p>
<p>Remember the fundamental business model: for Big Tech it is about about selling your attention to advertisers, no matter the message. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reddit-removes-millions-of-pro-trump-posts-but-advertisers-not-values-rule-the-day-141703">Reddit removes millions of pro-Trump posts. But advertisers, not values, rule the day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, third right, at the Christchurch Call summit on May 15 2021, discussing how to combat violent extremism being spread online." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C227%2C2000%2C1005&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400950/original/file-20210517-19-1mulw5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, third right, at the Christchurch Call summit on May 15 2021, discussing how to combat violent extremism being spread online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christchurch Call/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Can math be made ethical?</h2>
<p>Arden’s call is for algorithms designed with intent – the intent to reduce the promotion of content which can harm you, kill you or – given the right conditions – someone else.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/ethical-algorithm-design-should-guide-technology-regulation/">ethical algorithm </a> would encourage a more balanced diet, even if it meant you would stop consuming. </p>
<p>Limiting what the waiters can serve you doesn’t completely avoid the need for important discussions. For example, then who should decide what healthy means? But this would be a less contentious, more productive debate than a stale argument about free expression versus censorship. Especially when the real discussion is the promotion and convenience of "junk” thinking.</p>
<p>Limiting consumption <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296315001186">by making things</a> harder to find, not delivered on a platter, is preferable to any outright ban.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathalie Collins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media algorithms are akin to a licence to promote junk food or tobacco to children.Nathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1292122020-03-20T12:08:51Z2020-03-20T12:08:51ZThe battle against disinformation is global<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318165/original/file-20200302-18266-1a1jl9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C22%2C3004%2C1969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On the internet, anyone can express their views, like they can in Speakers' Corner in London – it's up to the audience to guard against disinformation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-orator-addressing-passers-by-at-speakers-corner-hyde-news-photo/3312594?adppopup=true">J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Disinformation-spewing online bots and trolls from halfway around the world are continuing to <a href="https://www.ned.org/issue-brief-how-disinformation-impacts-politics-and-publics/">shape local and national debates</a> by spreading lies online on a massive scale. In 2019, Russia <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/05/russia-has-been-meddling-in-foreign-elections-for-decades-has-it-made-a-difference/">used Facebook to intervene</a> in the internal politics of eight African nations.</p>
<p>Russia has a long <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/factory-lies-russia-s-disinformation-playbook-exposed-n910316">history</a> of using disinformation campaigns to undermine opponents – even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/opinion/russia-meddling-disinformation-fake-news-elections.html">hoodwinking CBS News anchor Dan Rather</a> back in 1987 into saying that U.S. biological warfare experiments <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-09-ss-592-story.html">sparked the AIDS epidemic</a>. </p>
<p>One group of researchers identified <a href="https://doi.org/10.5683/SP/BYRQQS">Russian interference in 27 elections</a> around the world, from 1991 to 2017. It <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/did-russia-affect-the-2016-election-its-now-undeniable/">interfered</a> in the 2016 U.S. elections, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/30/facebook-russia-fake-accounts-126-million">reaching more than 126 million Americans</a> on Facebook alone. Russia is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/10/08/bipartisan-senate-report-calls-sweeping-effort-prevent-russian-interference-election/">almost certainly</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/after-a-congressional-briefing-on-election-threats-trump-soured-on-acting-spy-chief/2020/02/20/1ed2b4ec-53f1-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html">already</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/bernie-sanders-briefed-by-us-officials-that-russia-is-trying-to-help-his-presidential-campaign/2020/02/21/5ad396a6-54bd-11ea-929a-64efa7482a77_story.html">doing so</a> again in 2020.</p>
<p>But Russia is not alone: From the end of World War II to the year 2000, scholars have documented <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqv016">116 attempts to influence elections</a> – 80 of them by the United States. </p>
<p>Nations around the world, including the United States, have to decide how to <a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/anti-misinformation-actions/">react</a>. There is no shortage of experimentation, with new laws and codes of conduct, and even efforts to cut off internet access entirely – and that was before misinformation regarding the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/16/21182726/coronavirus-covid-19-facebook-google-twitter-youtube-joint-effort-misinformation-fraud">COVID-19 pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.law.indiana.edu/about/people/bio.php?name=shackelford-scott-j">scholar</a> of cybersecurity policy, I have been reviewing the efforts of nations around the world to protect their citizens from foreign interference, while protecting free speech, an example of which is being <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3548670">published</a> by the Washington and Lee Law Review.</p>
<p>There is no perfect approach, given the different cultural and legal traditions in play. But there’s plenty to learn and use to diminish outsiders’ ability to hack U.S. democracy. </p>
<p><iframe id="ZiVjU" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZiVjU/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Europe</h2>
<p>The European Union has been a target of Russian efforts to undermine stability and trust in democratic institutions including elections across Europe. </p>
<p>Disinformation was rampant across Europe in 2019, including in the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/europes-elections-fight-against-disinformation">Netherlands</a> and the U.K., prompting the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-48356351">closing</a> of far-right Facebook groups for spreading “fake news and polarizing content.”</p>
<p>This has been repeated elsewhere in Europe, such as Spain, where Facebook – again <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/25/facebook-takes-down-far-right-groups-days-before-spanish-election">under pressure</a> from the authorities and civil society groups – closed down far-right groups’ Facebook pages days ahead of their parliamentary elections in April 2019.</p>
<p>The disinformation efforts go beyond Facebook and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/world/europe/elections-disinformation-social-media.html">manipulated Twitter feeds</a>, when Twitter handles are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/world/europe/factcheck-uk-conservative-party.html">renamed</a> by hackers to mislead followers. A growing aspect of multiple disinformation is how artificial intelligence can create manipulated videos that look real, which are called <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/01/business/pentagons-race-against-deepfakes/">deepfakes</a>.</p>
<p>Not all of this interference is foreign, though – political parties across Europe and around the world are learning disinformation tactics and are deploying it in their own countries to meet their own goals. Both the Labour and Conservative parties in the U.K. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/world/europe/elections-disinformation-social-media.html">engaged</a> in these tactics in late 2019, for example.</p>
<p>In response, the EU is <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/europes-elections-fight-against-disinformation">spending more</a> money on combating disinformation across the board by hiring new staff with expertise in data mining and analytics to respond to complaints and proactively detect disinformation. It is working to get member countries to share share information more readily, and has built a system that provides nations with <a href="https://theconversation.com/busting-russias-fake-news-the-european-union-way-93712">real-time alerts of disinformation campaigns</a>. It is unclear if the U.K. will be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/world/europe/uk-election-brexit.html">participating</a> in these activities post-Brexit. </p>
<p>The EU also seems to be losing patience with Silicon Valley. It pressured social media giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter to sign the <a href="https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-19-2570_en.htm">Code of Practice on Disinformation</a> in 2018. This initiative is the first time that the tech industry has <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/code-practice-disinformation">agreed</a> “to self-regulatory standards to fight disinformation.” Among other provisions, the code requires signatories to cull fake accounts, and to report monthly on their efforts to increase transparency for political ads. </p>
<p>In response, these firms have <a href="https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-19-2570_en.htm">set up</a> “searchable political-ad databases” and have begun to take down “disruptive, misleading or false” information from their platforms. But the code is not binding, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/06/world/europe/europe-russian-disinformation-propaganda-elections.html">naming and shaming violators</a> does not guarantee better behavior in the future.</p>
<p>At the national level, France has taken a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/france-plans-revolution-rein-kings-tech/">leading role</a> in taxing tech giants to reign in the power of tech firms including how they are used to spread disinformation, prompting threats of retaliatory tariffs from the Trump administration. But this may just be a “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/france-plans-revolution-rein-kings-tech/">warmup</a>” to more ambitious actions designed to help protect both competition and democracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318938/original/file-20200305-106629-vu9p6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Indian police officer inspects a damaged vehicle from which two men were taken and lynched by a mob afraid of strangers in their area because of misinformation spread on WhatsApp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photo-taken-on-july-10-2018-shows-gulshan-daolagupu-news-photo/998301190?adppopup=true">Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Asia</h2>
<p>Democracies across Asia are also dealing with disinformation. </p>
<p>In Indonesia, for example, President Joko Widodo spearheaded the creation of the new National Cyber and Encryption Agency to <a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/anti-misinformation-actions/#indonesia">combat disinformation</a> in their elections. One example was in June 2019, when a member of the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3016569/indonesian-cyber-jihadist-arrested-spreading-fake-news-and">Muslim Cyber Army was arrested in Java</a> for posting misinformation that implied that the Indonesian government was being controlled by China. </p>
<p>Like Indonesia, Malaysia has also <a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/anti-misinformation-actions/#malaysia">criminalized</a> the sharing of misinformation. <a href="https://www.globalgroundmedia.com/2019/04/23/tactics-to-fight-disinformation-in-thailand-indonesia-japan-the-philippines-and-india/">Myanmar</a> and Thailand have leaned on law enforcement actions by arresting people who they argue are behind disinformation campaigns to curtail misinformation, which have been abused in some cases to silence critics of <a href="https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/anti-misinformation-actions/#myanmar">public corruption</a>.</p>
<p>The problem of disinformation in India is so severe that it has been likened by some commentators to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/opinion/india-elections-disinformation.html">public health crisis</a>. One <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-digital-civility-index-safer-internet-day-2019/"> Microsoft study</a>, for example, found that 64% of Indians encountered disinformation online in 2019, which was the highest proportion among 22 surveyed countries. </p>
<p>Not only have these incidents affected elections in India such as by spreading false information about candidates on WhatsApp, but they have led to <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/69-mob-attacks-on-child-lifting-rumours-since-jan-17-only-one-before-that-118070900081_1.html">real-world harm</a>, including at least 33 deaths and 69 instances of mob violence following kidnapping allegations. </p>
<p>In response, the Indian government has <a href="https://scroll.in/article/947880/in-charts-india-shut-down-the-internet-than-100-times-in-2019">shut down</a> the internet more than 100 times over the past year, and has proposed laws that would give it largely unchecked surveillance powers, mirroring Chinese-style internet <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/technology/india-internet-censorship.html">censorship</a>. </p>
<h2>Australia and New Zealand</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318426/original/file-20200303-66099-sto9ag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Superman is not coming to defend ‘truth, justice and the American way’ from disinformation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/superman-played-by-american-actor-christopher-reeve-holds-a-news-photo/166979319">Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Australia and New Zealand have also been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australian-intelligence-china-behind-parliament-election-hack-report-2019-9">targets of online</a> <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/64991ca6-9796-11e7-a652-cde3f882dd7b">influence campaigns</a> – not from Russia, but from China. In response, Australia has enacted a new law to ban foreign interference in Australia’s elections, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/world/australia/china-spying-wang-liqiang-nick-zhao.html">enforcement</a> has been lacking. </p>
<p>New Zealand has taken on a more global leadership role in combating this problem. In partnership with France, New Zealand’s Christchurch Call to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online has <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/supporters.html">more than 50 nations</a> supporting its goal of stopping the spread of violent extremism online and banning foreign political <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/03/new-zealand-bans-foreign-political-donations-amid-interference-concerns">donations</a>. Although not necessarily disinformation, such content can similarly widen fissures in democratic societies and disrupt elections.</p>
<h2>Making cyberspace safe for democracy</h2>
<p>Groups within the U.S. and outside it have long sought to exploit domestic divisions like inequality and injustice. This is a global issue, demanding action from both advanced and emerging democracies.</p>
<p>The U.S., for example, could take a <a href="https://www.csis.org/coming-together-fight-fake-news-lessons-european-approach-disinformation">wider view</a> of combating disinformation, featuring three parts. </p>
<p>First, more integration of disparate efforts is vital. That does not mean establishing an independent agency (as in Indonesia), for example, or focusing tenaciously on censorship and surveillance (as in India), but it could mean the current Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/technology/justice-department-tech-antitrust.html">investigations</a> into tech giants including Facebook should include disinformation as one focus. </p>
<p>Second, social media firms – including Facebook – could agree to comply by the EU Code for Disinformation globally, as some are already doing with the EU’s <a href="https://iapp.org/resources/article/top-10-operational-impacts-of-the-gdpr/">data privacy</a> regulations.</p>
<p>Third, media literacy and education is imperative to help inoculate citizens against disinformation. <a href="https://securityintelligence.com/from-naughty-to-nice-best-practices-for-k-12-cybersecurity-education/">Educational reforms</a> are urgently needed to help students recognize disinformation when they see it, a topic all the more important given the rise of <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/3293002/deepfake-videos-how-and-why-they-work.html">deepfakes</a>. </p>
<p>In short, by working together and taking these threats seriously, we might even be able to find a way that – despite the challenges – democracy can persist even in a hyperconnected future. </p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford is a principal investigator on grants from the Hewlett Foundation, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the Microsoft Corporation supporting both the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance and the Indiana University Cybersecurity Clinic.</span></em></p>A scholar who has reviewed the efforts of nations around the world to protect their citizens from foreign interference says there is no magic solution, but there’s plenty to learn and do.Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331592020-03-11T19:16:49Z2020-03-11T19:16:49ZChristchurch’s legacy of fighting violent extremism online must go further – deep into the dark web<p>It didn’t take long for a terrorist to show how hard it is to prevent violent extremist content being shared online.</p>
<p>Within six months of the attacks at two Christchurch mosques on March 15 last year, which were live streamed on Facebook, a far-right terrorist’s attack at a German synagogue was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/09/the-german-synagogue-shooting-was-streamed-on-twitch.html">broadcast live</a> on Amazon’s video-streaming platform Twitch. </p>
<p>In an echo of the Christchurch attack, it was users who <a href="https://twitter.com/Twitch/status/1182036268202381313">reported the video</a> to Twitch, which was up for about half an hour before being removed.</p>
<p>Last year, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was commended for her leadership on the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/">Christchurch Call</a>, bringing together governments and tech companies with the aim of eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online.</p>
<p>A year on, the Christchurch Call is still an important initiative. But one of the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116024493/jacinda-arderns-christchurch-call-has-made-strides-but-is-worth-much-more-than-the-paper-its-written-on">biggest challenges</a> we face is to prevent far-right groups from simply moving to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-dark-web-and-how-does-it-work-63613">the dark web</a>”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/far-right-extremists-still-threaten-new-zealand-a-year-on-from-the-christchurch-attacks-133050">Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks</a>
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<h2>Three missing nations in the Christchurch Call</h2>
<p>Since <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">launching</a> at a global summit in Paris last year, the Christchurch Call has generated some momentum – including the relaunch of the <a href="https://www.gifct.org/">Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism</a> as a staffed and funded independent legal entity, with an expanded mandate to counter extremism as well as terrorism. </p>
<p>A new crisis response protocol now encourages quick and effective cooperation between the tech sector and governments in responding to terrorist incidents. </p>
<p>And global support for the Call has grown: as Ardern has <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2002/S00178/jacinda-ardern-speech-at-lautoka-mosque.htm">highlighted</a>, it’s now backed by <a href="https://www.opengovasia.com/significant-progress-against-terrorist-and-extremist-online-content/">48 countries</a>, three international organisations and eight online service providers.</p>
<p>But there’s clearly a long way to go in building a truly inclusive, effective international framework, especially because of the three critical nations that are not involved: the US, Russia and China.</p>
<p>The Trump administration’s refusal to sign the Christchurch Call weakened it from the start. Some major US tech firms signalled their support – including Microsoft, Facebook and Google – but the absence of the world’s leading nation was a major blow.</p>
<p>One might be tempted to blame President Trump himself, but the US approach was founded in concerns about the impact on the first amendment to the US constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, and a broader historical and cultural reluctance to regulate the private sector. </p>
<p>The decision was also made against a political backdrop in the US, in which right-wing voices complained about being <a href="https://torontosun.com/news/world/big-tech-censors-social-media-companies-continue-to-gag-conservative-voices">shut out of mainstream and new media</a>. In a thinly veiled reference to the Christchurch Call, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-74th-session-united-nations-general-assembly/">President Trump said</a>:</p>
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<p>A free society cannot allow social media giants to silence the voices of the people. And a free people must never, ever be enlisted in the cause of silencing, coercing, cancelling or blacklisting their own neighbours. </p>
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<p>Russia and China are also notably absent. Without some of the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112284082/how-can-upcoming-social-media-efforts-be-global-if-they-ignore-asia">world’s non-western media companies</a>, such as Weibo and WeChat, the initiative is unlikely to succeed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">It's vital we clamp down on online terrorism. But is Ardern's 'Christchurch Call' the answer?</a>
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<h2>Algorithms are not up to the task</h2>
<p>A second more technical problem relates to the algorithms used to search for hate speech, violence and terrorist content. </p>
<p>Social media companies rely on these algorithms to funnel content to their users, but they aren’t effective yet in quickly identifying violent extremist content. Facebook <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/combating-hate-and-extremism/">has indicated</a> that automated processes still struggle to distinguish between real violence and other content, including footage of real military operations and movies that depict violence.</p>
<p>Reports suggest Facebook is using military footage to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/115862252/facebook-announces-extremist-content-policy-changes-ahead-of-christchurch-call-stock-take?rm=a">train its algorithms</a> to identify terrorist violence online. But the technical capacity to <a href="https://parispeaceforum.org/publication/digital-platforms-and-extremism-are-content-controls-effective/">monitor vast amounts</a> of user-generated data is not there yet.</p>
<p>Last year, Facebook’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun said artificial intelligence is years away from being able to moderate this type of content, particularly when it comes to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/20/18632260/facebook-ai-spot-terrorist-content-live-stream-far-from-solved-yann-lecun">screening live video</a>.</p>
<p>A third problem is the ongoing <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/11/GTI-2019web.pdf">growth of right-wing violence and hatred</a>. If social media is a reflection of society, then it is no surprise that extremism continues to flourish online. </p>
<h2>Dark social media</h2>
<p>The good news is that globally, terrorist incidents have reduced by 52% since 2014, largely due to successes in fighting groups like ISIS and Boko Haram. But far-right violence continues to flourish, with a <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/11/GTI-2019web.pdf">320% increase over the past five years</a>. </p>
<p>High-profile attacks inspired by extreme far-right ideology have also continued, with one gunman killing 22 people in El Paso in Texas in August 2019, and an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/shooting-germany-hanau-dead-several-people-shisha-near-frankfurt">attack in Hanau</a>, Germany, that killed nine people in February this year. </p>
<p>Social media companies are ill-equipped to counter far-right narratives that feed these attacks by distorting perception, sowing division and feeding confirmation bias. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-lessons-we-must-take-away-from-the-christchurch-terror-attack-113716">Four lessons we must take away from the Christchurch terror attack</a>
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<p>The problem is compounded by the growth in “dark social” networks, including applications like WhatsApp and Snapchat, where users share content without any information provided about the source. </p>
<p>Recent research shows that <a href="https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/77-5-of-shares-are-on-dark-social-only-7-5-on-facebook-and-other-trends-publishers-are-in-the-dark-about/">77.5% of shares are on dark social media</a>, as opposed to 7.5% on Facebook. </p>
<p>The dark web continues to proliferate too, with the controversial 8Chan site, which was regularly used by hate groups, moving to a network of <a href="https://theconversation.com/8chans-demise-is-a-win-against-hate-but-could-drive-extremists-to-the-dark-web-121521">inaccessible and encrypted servers</a>.</p>
<p>Countries shouldn’t shy away from advocacy on these issues. Small states can be successful <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0010836702037001689?journalCode=caca">advocates for responsible standards</a> and social behaviours. But we’re only at the beginning of a long and complex process of change. </p>
<p>To measure progress, we need to develop clear metrics based on online patterns and trends to assess and sustain the Christchurch Call. This means including a wider range of tech providers and countries – and, just as importantly, dark social and dark web services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Burton receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 844129. He is affiliated with Universite libre de Bruxelles.</span></em></p>The US, Russia and China haven’t backed the NZ-led Christchurch Call to crackdown on online extremism. Without them, and key non-western media, the initiative is unlikely to make enough difference.Joe Burton, Senior Lecturer, New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1330502020-03-10T18:01:15Z2020-03-10T18:01:15ZFar-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks<p>In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">I wrote</a> that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on, I’m not sure enough has changed.</p>
<p>I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/19/fastest-growing-uk-terrorist-threat-is-from-far-right-say-police">overseas</a>. </p>
<p>My assessment is that there are about 60 to 70 groups and somewhere between 150 and 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. </p>
<p>This sounds modest alongside the estimated 12,000 to 13,000 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/world/europe/germany-shooting-terrorism.html">violent far-right activists in Germany</a>. But proportionate to population size, the numbers are similar for both countries. And it only takes one activist to act out his extremism.</p>
<p>In the past year, there has certainly been greater investment by New Zealand’s security agencies in monitoring extremist groups and activists. There has been more media coverage. The government moved quickly to ban assault weapons and further <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/topics/all-current-topics/bill-proposes-further-tightening-of-gun-controls/">controls on the use and possession of arms are underway</a>. Other initiatives, including a <a href="https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/">royal commission of inquiry</a>, are pending. </p>
<p>But I also feel there is a tendency to see the Christchurch attacks, which killed 51 people, as a one-off or an aberration – rather than something we still need to guard against. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-mosque-shootings-must-end-new-zealands-innocence-about-right-wing-terrorism-113655">Christchurch mosque shootings must end New Zealand's innocence about right-wing terrorism</a>
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<h2>New Zealand’s home-grown extremists</h2>
<p>New Zealanders should now be more aware than a year ago of the presence of local right-wing extremists. There has been plenty to remind them.</p>
<p>In June last year, Philip Arps, who has been involved in white supremacist activities in Christchurch for some time, was sentenced to 21 months in jail for sharing video of the Christchurch shootings. I am puzzled by the limited public awareness that the imagery on the side of his van – a <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/1488">reference to 14/88</a> and Nazi signage – was a clear indicator of his extremist views. </p>
<p>Arps was <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/white-supremacist-philip-arps-released-from-prison-banned-from-contact-with-muslims.html">released early in January this year</a> under strict conditions, including a GPS monitor that alerts authorities if he goes near a mosque. </p>
<p>Even though the white nationalist group Dominion Movement folded after the mosque attacks, one of its leaders, a soldier in the New Zealand defence force, was arrested in December last year for “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/119627639/whats-public-and-whats-secret-in-the-case-of-the-soldier-arrested-for-breaching-national-security?m=m">accessing a computer for a dishonest purpose</a>” and disclosing information that “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118942709/soldier-with-farright-links-accused-of-disclosing-military-information">prejudiced the security and defence of New Zealand</a>”. He had been active since 2011 on the neo-Nazi site Stormfront and attended a free speech rally in Wellington in 2018 along with another extreme-right activist.</p>
<p>He also appears to be a member of Wargus Christi, a group formed in September last year by a self-described neo-Nazi, Daniel Waring. It is a “martial-monastic” group of body builders who are homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islamaphobic.</p>
<p>Another group new to New Zealand’s extreme right is <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/03/09/1072195/action-zealandia-member-planned-terror-cell">Action Zealandia</a>. Their slogan is “building a community for European New Zealanders”. Apart from their online presence, their main public activity is placing stickers in public spaces highlighting their ultra-nationalism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-overhauling-nzs-gun-and-terrorism-laws-alone-cant-stop-terrorist-attacks-113706">Why overhauling NZ's gun and terrorism laws alone can't stop terrorist attacks</a>
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<h2>Confronting NZ’s place in a global web of hate</h2>
<p>Information from agencies such as the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> or the <a href="https://www.adl.org/">Anti-Defamation League</a> in the US shows a significant <a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/white-supremacists-double-down-on-propaganda-in-2019">increase in extremist activity</a> since 2016. </p>
<p>What has been most concerning is that the rise in online hate speech has real-world implications. <a href="https://phys.org/news/2019-10-online-speech-crimes-minorities.html">Research</a> shows an increase in online hate speech will be accompanied by hate crimes in a region or locality. Internet outages reduce both.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-year-from-the-christchurch-terror-attacks-nz-intelligence-records-a-surge-in-reports-131895">A year from the Christchurch terror attacks, NZ intelligence records a surge in reports</a>
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<p>In the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks, it was good to see <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-bans-military-style-semi-automatics-and-assault-rifles">rapid action on limiting automatic weapons</a>. And the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/">Christchurch Call</a> – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-christchurch-call-is-just-a-start-now-we-need-to-push-for-systemic-change-117259">initiative</a> to stop people using social media to promote terrorism – certainly helped put pressure on online platforms such as Facebook to monitor and remove objectionable material.</p>
<p>But we could move to ban right-wing organisations and put restrictions on individuals who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/feb/24/uk-ban-neo-nazi-sonnenkrieg-division-terrorist-group">breach agreed thresholds of speech and action</a>. We still do not have clear guidelines for what constitutes hate speech, apart from <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304643.html">s61 of the Human Rights Act</a> and the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2015/0063/latest/whole.html">Harmful Digital Communications Act</a>.</p>
<p>I do worry that we don’t have sufficient resources and skills locally to adequately monitor what is happening, even if agencies have been working together more closely internationally.</p>
<p>It would be good to know more from the agencies that have oversight. The New Zealand Security and Intelligence Service (<a href="https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/">NZSIS</a>) refers to the threat value, but often in relation to international threats. </p>
<p>More openness about their concerns and the extent of local groups and activists would help: for instance, something like <a href="https://tellmamauk.org/">Tell MAMA</a> in the UK or the reports other security agencies provide. </p>
<p>It was refreshing to see the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (<a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/">ASIO</a>) provide its <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/director-generals-annual-threat-assessment.html">annual threat assessment</a> in February this year. It assessed the terrorist threat in Australia as probable but the possibility of a right-wing extremist attack as low in terms of capability.</p>
<p>But it acknowledged that advances in technology are “outstripping our technical capabilities”, which must be a concern everywhere.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/asio-chiefs-assessment-shows-the-need-to-do-more-and-better-to-prevent-terrorism-132447">ASIO chief's assessment shows the need to do more, and better, to prevent terrorism</a>
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<p>One thing is certain. The Christchurch mosque attacks have become part of the lexicon whenever white supremacist terrorism is discussed. The events on March 15 have become something of a guide – and, unfortunately, an inspiration to other right-wing terrorists. </p>
<p>It is challenging that many of these extremists, the alleged Christchurch gunman included, are self-radicalised, ideologically motivated, and with a small or no digital footprint. Often there is no prior warning of an attack. </p>
<p>One year on from the attacks, my report card for New Zealand is that we’ve made progress on greater awareness and action. But we still need to do more, including on keeping the public better informed that the problem hasn’t gone away. Just ask those <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/403884/new-register-for-islamophobic-and-racist-incidents-created">who continue to be targeted</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Spoonley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it’s similar to extremist numbers in Germany.Paul Spoonley, Distinguished Professor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1194192019-09-03T11:17:33Z2019-09-03T11:17:33ZIn a world of cyber threats, the push for cyber peace is growing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289712/original/file-20190827-184202-eaz1mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=291%2C22%2C4184%2C2941&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A push for digital peace is growing around the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/cpu-peace-181400696">Finchen/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Digital conflict and military action are increasingly intertwined, and civilian targets – private businesses and everyday internet users alike – are vulnerable in the digital crossfire. But there are forces at work trying to promote peace online.</p>
<p>It will be a tough challenge: In May 2019, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/05/06/israel-retaliates-to-a-cyber-attack-with-immediate-physical-action-in-a-world-first/#46ed253df895">Israel responded to unspecified cyberattacks</a> by Hamas with an <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/02/us-iran-cyber-strike-marks-a-military-game-changer-says-tech-expert.html">immediate airstrike</a> that destroyed the Gaza Strip building where the hackers were located.</p>
<p>The U.S. had done something similar in 2015, launching a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/world/middleeast/junaid-hussain-islamic-state-recruiter-killed.html">drone strike to kill</a> an <a href="https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/615305/iraq-progresses-in-isil-fight-key-extremist-confirmed-dead/">alleged Islamic State hacker</a>, but that operation was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/us/isis-is-cited-in-hacking-of-central-commands-twitter-feed.html">months in the making</a>. In July 2019, the U.S. also reversed the equation, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/02/us-iran-cyber-strike-marks-a-military-game-changer-says-tech-expert.html">digitally disabling Iranian missile-launching computers</a> in response to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/us-drone-shot-down-by-iranian-missile-in-international-airspace.html">Iran shooting down a U.S. military drone</a> over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-at-stake-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-120486">Strait of Hormuz</a>.</p>
<p>U.S. businesses <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-cybersecurity-202/2019/06/24/the-cybersecurity-202-u-s-businesses-are-preparing-for-iranian-hacks-after-american-cyber-attack/5d1007a81ad2e552a21d507f/">fear they might be the targets of retaliation</a> for that attack from Iran. Even <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-russians-might-hack-the-boy-scouts-next-102229">local nonprofits</a> need to learn how to <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cybercrime-120062">protect themselves from online threats</a>, potentially including national governments and terrorists. In some ways cyberspace has rarely seemed more unstable, even hostile. </p>
<p>At the same time, dozens of countries and hundreds of firms and nonprofits are fed up with all this digital violence, and are working toward greater cybersecurity for all – and even what might be called cyber peace.</p>
<h2>Serious hacking is getting easier</h2>
<p>Data and security breaches like the one carried out by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/us/nsa-shadow-brokers.html">Shadow Brokers</a>, revealed in 2016, released extremely advanced hacking tools to the public, including ones created by the National Security Agency. Cybercriminals are using those programs, among others, to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-cities-strain-to-fight-hackers-11559899800">hijack computer systems and data storage</a> in <a href="https://theconversation.com/hackers-seek-ransoms-from-baltimore-and-communities-across-the-us-118089">governments across the country</a>.</p>
<p>Some companies have been forced to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world/">revert to one-to-one instant-messaging and passing written memos</a> in the wake of <a href="https://theconversation.com/hackers-seek-ransoms-from-baltimore-and-communities-across-the-us-118089">ransomware attacks</a> and other cybercrimes.</p>
<p>The U.S. government is taking note. Instead of pushing the technological envelope, it has elected to use tried and true <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-wants-to-isolate-power-grids-with-retro-technology-to-limit-cyber-attacks/">analog technologies</a> to help secure the electricity grid, for example.</p>
<h2>A rising international effort</h2>
<p>A growing coalition, including the governments of France and New Zealand, is coming together to promote international standards of online behavior, aimed at reducing cyber insecurity. Nonprofits like the <a href="https://otalliance.org/about-us/non-governmental-organizations-ngos">Online Trust Alliance</a>, <a href="https://www.cyberpeacealliance.net/">Cyber Peace Alliance</a>, <a href="https://cybertechaccord.org">Cybersecurity Tech Accord</a> and <a href="https://ict4peace.org/activities/">ICT4Peace</a>, are joining, as are major funders like the <a href="https://hewlett.org/strategy/cyber/">Hewlett Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/programs/technology/cyber/">Carnegie Endowment for International Peace</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YtgRGx0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I</a> am the acting director of the <a href="https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/">Ostrom Workshop</a> at Indiana University that includes the <a href="https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/research/internet-cybersecurity/index.html">Cyber Peace Working Group</a>, one of several academic groups also working to protect the Internet and its users.</p>
<p>Although it’s too soon to say anything certain about long-term results, there are some early indications of success, including the outcome of a Paris meeting in November 2018. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/politics/us-cyberattacks-declaration.html">More than 60 nations</a> – though not the United States – signed the <a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/digital-diplomacy/france-and-cyber-security/article/cybersecurity-paris-call-of-12-november-2018-for-trust-and-security-in">Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace</a>, along with more than 130 companies and 90 universities and nonprofit organizations. The document is a <a href="https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/digital-diplomacy/france-and-cyber-security/article/cybersecurity-paris-call-of-12-november-2018-for-trust-and-security-in">broad statement of principles</a> that focus on improving “cyber hygiene,” along with “the security of digital products and services” and the “integrity of the internet,” among other topics. It doesn’t legally bind its participants to do anything, but does lay out some basic points of agreement that could, in time, be codified into laws or other enforceable standards.</p>
<p>Its <a href="https://www.internetgovernance.org/2018/11/09/the-paris-igf-convergence-on-norms-or-grand-illusion/">critics</a> question whether it is too early to establish global commitments given that core issues of sovereignty over the internet remain unresolved. Nevertheless, the Paris Call has helped shape the conversation around the scope and <a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/news-publications/ndias-quarterly/the-meaning-of-cyber-peace/">meaning of cyber peace</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289718/original/file-20190827-184252-1lj2qz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the wake of a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, that country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, spearheaded a call to reduce violent and extremist content online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/New-Zealand-Mosque-Shooting/6e9e9acf016745c5b6f813e0245995f1/4/0">AP Photo/Vincent Thian</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another international effort began in the aftermath of the March 2019 mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The governments of 18 nations – along with more than a dozen well-known technology firms like Google and Facebook – adopted the <a href="https://www.christchurchcall.com/supporters.html">Christchurch Call</a> to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/64189/why-the-christchurch-call-to-remove-online-terror-content-triggers-free-speech-concerns/">effort</a> has led many of the companies involved to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-to-ban-supremacist-and-hoax-videos-in-tougher-hate-speech-policy/">change their policies</a> governing hate speech and disinformation on their platforms. For example, YouTube, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, announced a <a href="https://youtube.googleblog.com/2019/06/our-ongoing-work-to-tackle-hate.html">new hate speech policy</a> prohibiting content “alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion based on qualities like age, gender, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status.” The Christchurch Call has also helped widen the discussion about cyber peace to include <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol50/iss3/3">thorny questions about democracy</a>, such as how to balance freedom of speech with limits on extremist content.</p>
<h2>A digital Geneva Convention?</h2>
<p>A key element remains the need to <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/digital-geneva-convention-mean-future-humanitarian-action/">protect civilians from harm in a future cyber conflict</a>, such as attacks on the <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060281821">electricity grid</a>, <a href="https://time.com/4270728/iran-cyber-attack-dam-fbi/">dams</a> and other systems that affect daily life for much of the world.</p>
<p>One idea is to fashion an agreement along the lines of the <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions">Geneva Conventions</a>, which with their predecessors have sought to protect innocent lives in military conflict <a href="https://theconversation.com/ban-killer-robots-to-protect-fundamental-moral-and-legal-principles-101427">for more than a century</a>. An international treaty along the lines of the <a href="https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm">Outer Space Treaty</a>, <a href="https://www.ats.aq/e/ats.htm">Antarctic Treaty</a> or the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/theme/marine-and-polar/our-work/international-ocean-governance/unclos">U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea</a> <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/cybersecurity-treaties-skeptical-view">may be</a> <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/international-cyber-treaty-russia-china-dnc/">useful</a>. </p>
<p>There is not yet a grand “Treaty for Cyberspace,” though. The relevant international agreement with the highest number of ratifications so far is the 2004 Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, also called the <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/the-budapest-convention">Budapest Convention</a>, which guides international prosecution and extradition of cyber criminals. The U.N. has <a href="https://dig.watch/processes/un-gge">several</a> <a href="https://cyberstability.org/">groups</a> working on <a href="https://cyberstability.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/GCSC-Singapore-Norm-Package-3MB.pdf">aspects of international cybersecurity</a>. </p>
<p>But as with <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2630333">potential solutions to climate change</a>, there’s not a lot of political energy being put into the efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289722/original/file-20190827-184217-sre452.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Independent groups seek to help online users stay safe and avoid trouble.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://securityplanner.org/#/">Screenshot by The Conversation</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Making progress anyway</h2>
<p>In an attempt to avoid leaving people to fend for themselves in a perilous online world, the nonprofit Consumer Reports organization has launched a “<a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/media-room/press-releases/2017/03/consumer_reports_launches_digital_standard_to_safeguard_consumers_security_and_privacy_in_complex_marketplace/">Digital Standard</a>” program that will evaluate and rate the privacy and security features of various internet-connected devices and services. Academics are also helping out, such as the <a href="https://securityplanner.org/#/">Security Planner</a> tool created by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which helps civil society groups and researchers protect their data.</p>
<p>There’s much more to be done to protect a digitally centered society, both <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/technology-policy-program/significant-cyber-incidents">politically</a> and <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/325142">technically</a>. The key will be focusing on a more <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/toward-a-positive-cyber-p_b_5511877">positive vision</a> of peace that includes better governance, respect for human rights, making internet access more widely available around the world, and teaching everyone how to protect themselves – and each other – online.</p>
<p>This will not happen overnight, and the path may not be a straight line. Consider that the often-derided 1928 <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/kellogg">Kellogg-Briand Pact</a>, also called the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/16/the-internationalists-review-plan-outlaw-war">Pact of Paris</a>, outlawed aggressive war. It didn’t work, but did eventually help lay a <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-kellogg-briand-pact/">foundation</a> for the United Nations and a more stable international system.</p>
<p>Similarly, a Cyber Peace Accord – building from efforts such as the Paris Call and the Cybersecurity Tech Accord – could, in time, lead the international community toward greater stability in cyberspace. One possibility could take inspiration from <a href="https://www.wearestillin.com/">efforts to fight climate change</a>, by asking individual nations, towns, groups and even individuals to announce “Cyber Peace Pledges,” to build momentum toward a more collective solution. </p>
<p>Working together, we may just be able to achieve cyber peace through a mix of shaming, outcasting and inspiring users, firms and policymakers to act.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119419/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford is a principal investigator on grants from the Hewlett Foundation, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the Microsoft Corporation supporting both the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance and the Indiana University Cybersecurity Clinic. </span></em></p>Dozens of countries and hundreds of firms and nonprofits are fed up with digital violence and are working toward greater cybersecurity for all.Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1172592019-05-16T08:04:41Z2019-05-16T08:04:41ZThe ‘Christchurch Call’ is just a start. Now we need to push for systemic change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274826/original/file-20190516-69186-15si7o9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=73%2C172%2C3421%2C2389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron at the "Christchurch Call" summit, which delivered an agreement signed by tech companies and world leaders.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Charles Platiau</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The “Christchurch Call” <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112693273/live-jacinda-arderns-christchurch-call-summit-in-paris">summit</a> has made <a href="https://www.noted.co.nz/tech/tech-companies-and-17-govts-sign-up-to-christchurch-call/">specific progress</a>, with tech companies and world leaders signing an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">agreement</a> to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The question now is how we collectively follow up on its promise.</p>
<p>The summit in Paris began with the statement that the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch two months ago was “unprecedented”. But one of the benefits of this conversation happening in such a prominent fashion is that it draws attention to the fact that this was not the first time social media platforms have been implicated in terrorism. </p>
<p>It was merely the first time that a terrorist attack in a western country was broadcast via the internet. Facebook played a significant role in the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as covered in the Frontline documentary “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T48KFiHwexM">The Facebook Dilemma</a>”. And this <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3082972">study</a> demonstrated a link between <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/world/europe/facebook-refugee-attacks-germany.html">Facebook use and violence against refugees</a> in Germany. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-vital-we-clamp-down-on-online-terrorism-but-is-arderns-christchurch-call-the-answer-117169">It's vital we clamp down on online terrorism. But is Ardern's 'Christchurch Call' the answer?</a>
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<h2>Better than expected outcome</h2>
<p>I hope attention now turns to the fact that social media platforms profit from both an indifference to harassment and from harassment itself. It falls within the realms of corporate responsibility to deal with these problems, but they have done nothing to remedy their contributions to harassment campaigns in the past. </p>
<p>Online communities whose primary purpose is to terrorise the people they target have existed for many years, and social media companies have ignored them. <a href="https://feministfrequency.com/author/femfreq/">Anita Sarkeesian</a> was targeted by a harassment campaign in 2012 after drawing attention to the problems of how women are represented in videogames. She <a href="https://feministfrequency.com/2015/01/27/one-week-of-harassment-on-twitter/">chronicled the amount of abuse</a> she received on Twitter in just one week during 2015 (content warning, this includes threats of murder and rape). Twitter did nothing.</p>
<p>When the summit began, I hoped that pressure from governments and the threat of regulation would prompt some movement from social media companies, but I wasn’t optimistic. I expected that social media companies would claim that technological solutions based on algorithms would magically fix everything without human oversight, despite the fact that they can be and are gamed by bad actors. </p>
<p>I also thought the discussion might turn to removing anonymity from social media services or the internet, despite the evidence that many people involved in online abuse are <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/real-name-policies-anonymity-online-harassment">comfortable doing so under their own names</a>. Mainly, I thought that there would be some general, positive-sounding statements from tech companies about how seriously they were taking the summit, without many concrete details to their plans.</p>
<p>I’m pleased to be wrong. The discussion has already raised <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">specific and vital elements</a>. The New Zealand Herald <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12231337">reports</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… tech companies have pledged to review their business models and take action to stop users being funnelled into extremist online rabbit holes that could lead to radicalisation. That includes sharing the effects of their commercially sensitive algorithms to develop effective ways to redirect users away from dark, single narratives.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Algorithms for profit</h2>
<p>The underlying business model of social media platforms has been part of the problem with abuse and harassment on their services. A great deal of evidence suggests that algorithms designed in pursuit of profit are also fuelling radicalisation towards white supremacy. Rebecca Lewis highlights that <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/alternative-influence/">YouTube’s business model</a> is fundamental to the ways the platform pushes people towards more extreme content.</p>
<p>I never expected the discussions to get so specific that tech companies would explicitly put their business models on the table. That is promising, but the issue will be what happens next. Super Fund chief executive Matt Whineray has said that an international investor group of 55 funds, worth a US$3.3 trillion will put their <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/389297/tech-companies-and-17-govts-sign-up-to-christchurch-call">financial muscle to the task of following up these initiatives</a> and ensuring accountability. My question is how solutions and progress are going to be defined.</p>
<p>Social media companies have committed to greater public transparency about their setting of community standards, particularly around how people uploading terrorist content will be handled. But this commitment in the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6004545-Christchurch-Call.html">Christchurch Call</a> agreement doesn’t carry through to discussions of algorithms and business models. </p>
<p>Are social media companies going to make their recommendation algorithms open source and allow scrutiny of their behaviour? That seems very unlikely, given how fundamental they are to their individual business models. They are likely to be seen as vital corporate property. Without that kind of openness it’s not clear how the investor group will judge whether any progress towards accountability is being made. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-responsible-digital-citizens-heres-how-we-can-all-reduce-racism-online-114619">As responsible digital citizens, here's how we can all reduce racism online</a>
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<p>While the Christchurch Call has made concrete progress, it is important to make sure that we collectively keep up the pressure. We need to make sure this rare opportunity for important systemic changes doesn’t fall by the wayside. That means pursuing transparent accountability through whatever means we can, and not losing sight of fundamental problems like the underlying business model of social media companies.</p>
<p>One example of a specific step would be more widespread adoption of best ethical practice for <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/oxygen-of-amplification/">covering extremist content in the news</a>. There is evidence that <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018687741/to-name-or-not-to-name-the-evidence">not naming the perpetrator</a> makes a difference, and the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112352367/christchurch-terror-attack-how-new-zealand-media-will-report-the-trial">guidelines New Zealand media adopted</a> for the coverage of the trial are another step in the right direction. A recent <a href="https://www.digitaldemocracy.nz/">article from authors</a> investigating the impact of digital media on democracy in New Zealand also points out <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-05-2019/the-christchurch-call-is-a-small-welcome-step-heres-what-needs-to-come-next/">concrete steps</a>.</p>
<p>The Christchurch Call has made excellent progress as a first step to change, but we need to take this opportunity to push for systemic change in what has been a serious, long-term problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Veale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the “Christchurch Call” summit has made concrete progress, we need to keep up the pressure on social media companies to become more transparent and accountable.Kevin Veale, Lecturer in Media Studies, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1171692019-05-15T04:16:37Z2019-05-15T04:16:37ZIt’s vital we clamp down on online terrorism. But is Ardern’s ‘Christchurch Call’ the answer?<p>It’s now two months since the Christchurch terror attacks. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-new-laws-are-vital-to-help-us-control-violence-and-extremism-online-114069">Social media live streaming</a> and distribution of footage from this event sparked rapid activity aimed at restricting spread of hateful and violent content online. </p>
<p>Moving forward, it’s vital we create truly effective approaches in tackling this issue, and in ways that are legally enforceable and do not unnecessarily impinge on freedom of speech.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-new-laws-are-vital-to-help-us-control-violence-and-extremism-online-114069">Why new laws are vital to help us control violence and extremism online</a>
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<p>Is New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-15/jacinda-ardern-christchurch-call-europe-tackle-online-extremism/11112028">Christchurch Call</a>” capable of driving such change? This <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/opinion/sunday/jacinda-ardern-social-media.html">meeting will take place later today</a> as a satellite event attached to the G7 summit in Paris, and include state leaders and representatives from digital media companies such as Facebook. (Today Facebook announced some <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/05/protecting-live-from-abuse/">new control mechanisms</a> for online content in advance of the meeting). </p>
<p>The leaders would do well to pay attention to key aspects of regulation already identified by international policy experts working to target digital operations across the world. Effective legal regulation of the internet must be clear, proportional (balanced for all involved), accountable (able to be monitored and checked) and offer procedural guarantees (open to appeals). </p>
<h2>Here come the reactive politicians</h2>
<p>Being seen to lead is clearly an important political aspect of managing online content. </p>
<p>Jacinda Ardern will run the Christchurch Call event together with French President Emmanuel Macron – who is already “<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macrons-plan-to-fix-facebook-youtube-and-twitter/">leading</a>” work on this matter. </p>
<p>Back in March, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison was seen to be taking the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-flags-new-laws-to-stop-social-media-platforms-being-weaponised-114237">lead</a>” to place social media governance on the agenda for the June summit of the G20 in Japan. </p>
<p>With so much political capital to be gained, perhaps we will now see political action creating real change. That is of course good. </p>
<p>But one may wonder why these leaders did not pursue this issue at this level before the horrible attack in Christchurch. </p>
<p>Why does it take a tragedy like this to spark political action? Civil society groups, academics, industry, media and pretty much the rest of society have been discussing these concerns <a href="https://www.manilaprinciples.org/">for years</a>. </p>
<h2>The risk of hasty, excessive and uncoordinated responses</h2>
<p>The fact that livestreaming and video of the terrorist attack in Christchurch spread to the degree it did is obviously a problem. And it is a problem that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. </p>
<p>But as part of this we must avoid hasty “solutions” that will only mask the issues in the long term, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/anxieties-over-livestreams-can-help-us-design-better-facebook-and-youtube-content-moderation-113750">potentially cause other problems</a> such as excessive blocking of internet content.</p>
<p>To be effective, laws must be drafted in a way that <a href="https://theconversation.com/livestreaming-terror-is-abhorrent-but-is-more-rushed-legislation-the-answer-114620">makes compliance realistic</a>. </p>
<p>We must also remember this is an international problem, in the sense that most of internet platforms are based outside Australia. It requires international coordination and collaboration.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/livestreaming-terror-is-abhorrent-but-is-more-rushed-legislation-the-answer-114620">Livestreaming terror is abhorrent – but is more rushed legislation the answer?</a>
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<h2>Perfection is not an option</h2>
<p>Anyone thinking of designing a framework to address the online distribution of terrorist content and other forms of hate speech must realise that we will not reach perfection. The mechanisms available to us are not perfect. </p>
<p>Experts such as Queensland University of Technology’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-15/jacinda-ardern-christchurch-call-europe-tackle-online-extremism/11112028">Nicolas Suzor</a> point out that we currently do not have technologies that can reliably distinguish between illegal terrorist content such as the Christchurch livestream on the one hand, and lawful news reporting on the other. </p>
<p>And frankly, whatever legal formulations we adopt to delineate legal versus illegal content, we will always end up with grey zones. Legal definition simply cannot be so precise as to avoid this.</p>
<p>Technology is ineffective at identifying hate, and laws are necessarily imprecise; these issues place social media platforms in an uncomfortable position. They need to devote considerable human resources to monitoring content. As only the biggest companies can afford to do so, smaller companies simply cannot compete. </p>
<p>Given the enormous amount of content uploaded every second, it also means these companies need to decide instantly whether content is legal or illegal. These sorts of decisions may take many months for courts to make. </p>
<p>We may also question the degree to which we want to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-big-tech-designs-its-own-rules-of-ethics-to-avoid-scrutiny-and-accountability-113457">entrust social media companies</a> to determine what is accessible online.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-big-tech-designs-its-own-rules-of-ethics-to-avoid-scrutiny-and-accountability-113457">How big tech designs its own rules of ethics to avoid scrutiny and accountability</a>
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<h2>What a regulatory framework needs to include</h2>
<p>The leading multi-stakeholder discussion regarding online content restrictions is carried out by the <a href="https://www.internetjurisdiction.net/">Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network</a> based in Paris. </p>
<p>For the past couple of years, it has worked with industry, academia, civil society, international organisations and various countries on devising operational principles for online content restrictions. </p>
<p>While several countries, such as United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and Germany, have been represented in the discussions, neither New Zealand nor Australia has actively participated in this work. </p>
<p>At the end of April 2019, the Secretariat of the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network <a href="https://www.internetjurisdiction.net/publications/paper/content-jurisdiction-program-operational-approaches">released</a> an important report. That <a href="https://www.internetjurisdiction.net/uploads/pdfs/Papers/Content-Jurisdiction-Program-Operational-Approaches.pdf">document</a> provides a blueprint intended to help public and private decision-makers take into account the full range of relevant issues when developing and implementing responsible frameworks, rules and practices to address abuses in full respect of international human rights principles.</p>
<h2>Four important issues</h2>
<p>The Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network report emphasises the need for:</p>
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<li>framework clarity – clearly worded rules that are understood in the same way by all concerned parties outlining rights and responsibilities</li>
<li>proportionality – decisions must take into account and aim to reconcile, or at least balance, the potentially competing rights of all relevant people or groups</li>
<li>procedural guarantees – the need for accessible, speedy, clearly documented and publicly available appeal mechanisms</li>
<li>accountability – the need for ongoing monitoring enabling appropriate oversight of content restrictions to increase trust in the process.</li>
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<p>It remains to be seen how well Ardern’s Christchurch Call incorporates these important considerations. </p>
<p>If it does successfully navigate the difficulties involved, Arden and Macron’s meeting has the potential to spark further international collaborative initiatives helping ensure a better online environment for us all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Jerker B. Svantesson was an ARC Future Fellow (project number FT120100583) during 2012-2016. During this period he received funding from the Australian Research Council for a project dealing with the topic of this piece. Professor Svantesson is currently commissioned to write a Global Status Report - dealing with, amongst other things, the issue of this piece - on behalf of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network. The views expressed herein are those of the author alone.</span></em></p>Being seen to lead is clearly an important political aspect of managing online content. But internet regulation must focus on creating policy that is clear, accountable, balanced and open to appeals.Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Co-Director Centre for Commercial Law, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.