NZ's Ardern says Christchurch Call anti-online hate project gets new tech investments
21/09/2022 05:54
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday announced a new research initiative
under a global project aimed at tackling online hate set up in
the wake of a mass killing by a white supremacist in
Christchurch in 2019.
Ardern said in a statement that as part of the Christchurch
Call initiative, New Zealand, the United States, Twitter
TWTR.N and Microsoft MSFT.O will invest an undisclosed sum
in developing new technology aimed at helping researchers
understand how algorithms affect internet users' experiences.
Partners in the initiative will work together to build and
test a set of privacy-enhancing technologies that, once proven,
could form the basis for infrastructure to support independent
study of impacts of algorithms, according to the statement.
"This initiative won't tell us all we need to know about the
outcomes algorithms are driving online, it will help us better
access data so researchers can answer these very questions," the
statement said.
The Christchurch Call was launched by Ardern and French
President Emmanuel Macron after 51 people were killed at two
mosques in the New Zealand city while the shooter live-streamed
his rampage on Meta's META.O Facebook platform.
A simultaneous joint statement from the Christchurch Call
said that since a 2021 summit new industry supporters and
partner organisations have joined the initiative including game
platform Roblox RBLX.N , video conferencing site Zoom 6694.T ,
the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund and Tech
Against Terrorism.
It said, however, many online service providers remain
outside the Call, calling on some unidentified firms unwilling
to meet the commitments to join.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
((Lucy.Craymer@thomsonreuters.com;))