Fighting ‘Online’ Terrorism: India Joins a new Global Initiative

News Bharati    16-May-2019
Total Views |

Paris, May 16: India on Wednesday joined a major and a distinguished global initiative named ‘Christchurch Call to Action’ which aims at combating terrorism and extremism online and secure the internet.


 

The initiative was launched in Paris yesterday. The call for combating online terrorism and ensuring internet security was adopted by France, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Jordan, Norway, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Indonesia, the European Commission and the IT giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Quant, Twitter, YouTube and Daily Motion, the press release by France in India said.

 

It was a matter of pride for India to be one of them. Mr. Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretory to the government of India represented India in the meeting.

The initiative, ‘Christchurch Call to Action’ has been named after the attack on mosques in New Zealand where 51 people were killed. The incidence was broadcast live on the internet on march 15.

The initiative outlines voluntary collective and voluntary commitments from governments of the member countries and online service providers to prevent the abuse of the internet which is being done by circulating terrorist and violent extremist content.

The declaration of the Christchurch Call to Action initiative said that the internet is not immune from abuse by terrorist and violent extremist actors and there is a need for collective efforts globally to secure the internet from terror groups. The dissemination of extremist content online has adverse impacts on the human rights of the victims, on our collective security and on people all over the world.

It further said the Christchurch attack highlighted the urgent need for action and enhanced co-operation among the wide range of actors with influence over this issue, including governments, civil society, and online service providers, such as social media companies to eliminate to eradicate terrorist and violent extremist content online.

Meanwhile, the US refused to join the initiative, citing the need for ‘free speech.’