Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Paris for the Christchurch Call summit. Photo / File
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Paris for the Christchurch Call summit. Photo / File
COMMENT:
Right now our Prime Minister is in Paris building an alliance of multinational tech companies and Governments to address how our internet-based platforms are being used to radicalise and weaponise extremism.
And while it is excellent that we are seeing movement in this space, there is so much dobe done.
The summit in Paris is one of many responses being taken to the horrific terrorist attack in Christchurch that killed and injured so many Muslim Kiwis.
The Prime Minister is correct to maintain momentum in this area. Governments and social media platforms have put effort into thwarting the radicalisation efforts of Islamic terrorism while at the same time ignoring the spectre in our own back yards of white supremacy and the rise of neo-Nazism.
We as a society, both NZ and global, have to reclaim the internet. This platform that many of us helped build was supposed to be open and a general force for good. It was supposed to promote the sharing of knowledge, create connections and unite humanity.
Instead many of us have fallen asleep at the wheel. We have allowed massive and unaccountable monopolies to dominate the networks. They are driven by "return to shareholder value", otherwise known as greed. We know Amazon puts online traders that use their platforms out of business if they compete with Amazon. We know Facebook flouts media laws.
We have allowed them to ignore laws and regulations with impunity and as individuals and nations we have rewarded them with our business. Not because we had to but because we were told that regulating multinationals in the digital space is impossible.
That's a lie.
Multinational internet monopolies are terrified about one country setting an example and doing the "right thing". They worry about the domino effect. They employ people in NZ and register businesses here that are just as liable as any other business for what happens in NZ or to New Zealanders.
The Prime Minister and her task force need to keep up the pace and pressure. If you think that "fake news" and fake social media accounts are bad I can assure you that we haven't seen anything yet. A wave of automated misinformation designed to manipulate you and rip you off is about to hit. We now have the capability of generating fake content as though it came from trusted sources, your friends, your family, your colleagues and your leaders.
We need to think about our defence mechanisms. How to build societal and national resilience. Our Government needs to have a strategy about how it uses internet technologies and how to build safe, positive spaces for Kiwis to enjoy the best that technology has to offer.
We have the means of production, we don't need to seize anything. Google, Facebook, and Amazon all used free and open source software to build their empires. New Zealand and New Zealanders can do the same.
We can build our own capabilities and systems that can inter-operate with the rest of the world, while at the same time offer some protection to our fellow Kiwis from the harms that are associated with this medium.
Our Government needs to take the lead, and our citizens need to understand and support this.
While the Christchurch Call is a great start, it is just one piece of a puzzle that we can solve here in New Zealand and then show it to the world. The internet is ours for the taking, so let's take it back.
Don Christie is co-chair of NZ Rise and managing director of Catalyst IT.
