The Christchurch Call's work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online will be coordinated by a new non-governmental organisation, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and French President Emmanuel Macron have announced.
The Christchurch Call Foundation is the outcome of the November 2023 Call Leaders' Summit, where leaders endorsed New Zealand and France building a resilient Secretariat ahead of the Call's fifth anniversary in May 2024.
New Zealand taxpayer funding for the Call will end on June 30, as support functions transfer to the new Secretariat, funded by the new Foundation.
The Christchurch Call was set up two months after the mosque terror attacks. Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and President Macron brought together Heads of State and Government and leaders from the technology sector to adopt the Call.
The Call has 25 commitments made by governments and online service providers to eliminate terrorist and extremist content online. Its multistakeholder community includes 56 governments, 19 online service providers, 13 partner organisations, and more than 50 civil society organisations.
"Since 2019, we have managed to build a global community to fight against extremism online and it is delivering, taking action at each tragic occurrence of a new terrorist attack," Macron said.
"Our commitment to this promise remains firm and I am confident that this new stage of the Call provides a solid basis for the future of this initiative and the new challenges we now have to tackle, including AI-generated content."
Dame Jacinda Ardern will remain an "integral part" of this initiative, as Patron of the Call, the joint statement said.
"I'd like to thank Dame Jacinda Ardern for her advocacy and leadership of the Christchurch Call, which has curtailed violent extremism online. I wish her and the Christchurch Call well as they evolve in the next phase of their development," Luxon said.
In her new role as Patron for the Call, Dame Jacinda will continue to facilitate dialogue with leaders, deliver outreach and advocacy to raise the profile of the Call. As with her Special Envoy role, this is a voluntary, unpaid position.
On social media, Dame Jacinda said when she left the role of Prime Minister, she wanted to continue her work on the Christchurch Call.
"I have advised the Prime Minister that it makes sense for my role to change, and at the same time the new organisation is stood up I will no longer be Special Envoy to the Prime Minister but rather Patron of the organisation as a whole," she said.
"The Christchurch Call represents a collective effort to try and prevent something like March 15 happening to anyone else. It was our darkest of hours, but I know from my last visit in February with those affected, that there's still a huge desire for us to keep work like this going. And together we are. So onwards!"
