Biden’s absence from Christchurch Call summit does not make USA’s recent joining ‘lip service’ - Ardern

May 15, 2021

The Prime Minister said she was pleased with the USA’s engagement in the process of trying to address the dissemination of extremist content online.

Jacinda Ardern has denied the USA’s recent joining the Christchurch Call is lip service after Joe Biden was absent for this morning ‘s second anniversary summit.

The Christchurch Call was initiated by Ardern in Paris almost two years ago following the March 15 terror attacks in Christchurch.

She co-chairs the call, which aims to try and eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online, with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Ardern gave a flat "no" when asked about Biden's absence and if it meant America's membership in the call was lip service.

"We were really pleased to have in recent weeks the official commitment of the US and their engagement all the way through since it was initiated has been really consistent," she said.

Domestic regulation or legislation around the issue was a matter for each member nation, Ardern said, adding that the call itself was not limited by the action of one country or not.

"On the issue of another country’s domestic regulation or legislation, ultimately that is for them and I say that as a general principle," she said.

"You won’t find me in the Christchurch Call space or indeed any space giving a running commentary on the domestic legislation of another country."

Ardern said she was "really heartened" with the work to date around tech companies' terms of service and livestreaming, but like others on the call, she acknowledged there was still work to do to fulfil the call's promises.

Over the next year, work will focus on building the call’s community, transparency, and crisis response as well as algorithms the tech giants use with their content.

To date, 55 countries, the European Commission, two international organisations and 10 tech companies have joined the call.

The most recent additions include the US, Tunisia, Peru, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia.

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