(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

(The Gist of PIB) Macron, Ardern host Paris summit against online extremism [MAY-2019]

Macron, Ardern host Paris summit against online extremism

French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will launch an ambitious new initiative, “Christchurch Call”, aimed at curbing extremism online.

The Christchurch Call is a non-binding set of agreements that a group of governments and major tech companies will sign.
It is believed to be the first document of its type – one signed by both private companies and major governments.

It will ask signatory nations to pledge to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content on social media and other online platforms. It asks them to adopt and enforce laws that ban objectionable material, and set guidelines on how traditional media can report acts of terrorism without amplifying them.
It also asks tech companies to enforce their terms of service, as well as “re-evaluate their algorithms that direct users to extremist content, and commit to redirecting people looking for extremist material”.

However, the pledge does not contain any enforcement or regulatory measures, and it would be up to each individual country and company to decide how it would honour its voluntary commitments.
A definition of violent extremist content was not included in the pledge, and it would be up to individual companies to decide on what constituted objectionable material.