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Article

14 May 2019

Author:
Civil society groups, facilitated by InternetNZ

Civil society petition on Christchurch call asserts that govts. should not outsource speech regulation or governance to technology companies

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Th[is] document was prepared for the Civil Society leaders' Voices for Action meeting (14 May 2019) with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to discuss the Christchurch Call... In these discussions, there was broad support for some of the key values of the Call... [and] a range of concerns... The issues with the most shared concern were:

  • The definition of “terrorism and violent extremism” is extremely important and very problematic if left to states to individually interpret... It is of vital importance that governments participating in the Christchurch Call commit to robust accountability and oversight to ensure that laws... and other initiatives to combat terrorism online do not result in disproportionate human rights violations of... human rights defenders...

  • There is concern that the commitments made by companies and governments were based on closed-door discussions...

  • Action must also be taken towards addressing these issues in our society, not just online, including countering the underlying structural and other causes and drivers of “terrorism” and “violent extremism” by strengthening the resilience and inclusiveness of our societies...

Technical solutions need to reflect commitments to human rights and a free, open, and secure Internet. Two specific issues that are particularly problematic in the current Call are the need to: Differentiate between online service providers, such as social media, andcore/key infrastructure; and Exclude upload filters—they are inconsistent with human rights and can prevent the collection of invaluable and unique evidence of human rights abuses themselves. 

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