Washington, D.C. — Following today’s announcement from the Trump administration that the United States will not be joining the “Christchurch Call” to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online, Simon Clark, senior fellow with the National Security and International Policy program at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, still in mourning after the murder of 51 of her fellow citizens by a white nationalist extremist, led 18 countries and the world’s largest technology companies to agree on a set of practical steps to stop online platforms from being used to amplify such horrors in the future. The Trump administration stood alone in opposition, once again abandoning U.S. allies in their time of need and failing to protect Americans from white nationalist terrorists. The White House’s argument that the Christchurch Call violates the First Amendment is completely spurious; there is nothing in the Christchurch Call that even insinuates that the government should regulate speech. Deaths caused by online hate will only increase if we fail to act.
For more information on this topic or to speak to an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected] or 202.495.3682.