Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has secured a commitment from world leaders at the G20 summit to block violent terrorism on Facebook.
- 'Unprecedented' surge in online violent extremism after Christchurch terror attack
- Winston Peters backs Jacinda Ardern's crusade against online 'emotional terrorism'
- 'Social media didn't shoot 50 people': Plunket blasts Ardern's pledge to fight online terrorism
The G20 is often seen as a delicate diplomatic dance, but there's one area where Morrison appears to have made the right moves.
"The internet should not become a weapon of terrorists," he said.
All G20 countries issued a joint statement saying: "We urge online platforms to meet our citizens' expectations that they must not allow use of their platforms to facilitate terrorism".
It was a united response to the Christchurch terror attacks, which were livestreamed on Facebook for 17 minutes.
The statement isn't binding, but the leaders want social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter to immediately pull down any livestreaming of terrorism.
"I'm very pleased that we're able to achieve that. I've already been in contact with Prime Minister Ardern," Morrison said.
Jacinda Ardern was not at the G20 but was pleased the idea has taken root.
"I think it just further adds more momentum to the work we're trying to do," she said.
But she quashed the idea Morrison achieved what the Christchurch Call failed to do - getting the US on board.
"I didn't see it that way," she said.
At that political summit in May, countries and tech companies pledged to eliminate violent extremist content online.
"Ultimately what made that call different was that we had social media companies at the table as well," Ardern said.
Facebook may have been able to show the Christchurch massacres live, but it's taking a lot longer to respond to the G20 statement. There has been nothing from the company so far.
Newshub.
