Swift banning of websites after Christchurch terror attack sparks online war
Websites blocked because they published footage of the Christchurch terror attack have come out swinging against ‘censorship’, as Scott Morrison calls a meeting with the tech giants.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
As the Morrison government fights to stop social media companies from spreading hateful content, websites blocked in the aftermath of the Christchurch terror attack have come out swinging.
Australian telecommunications companies have not only banned a website the gunman used to promote his massacre, they’ve also banned sites they considered to be complicit in spreading footage of the horrific attack after it was livestreamed on Facebook.
Telstra has blocked access to 4chan, 8chan and Voat, the blog Zero Hedge and video hosting platform Liveleak, because they still present the footage.
Burials begin for NZ massacre victims
‘Wake up’: Chilling IS massacre threat
The Australian accused of carrying out the mosque shootings which killed 50 and injured 50 others, posted a link to his livestream on 8chan before the attack started.
Zero Hedge reacted furiously to the blocking, but admitted hardly any of their readership came from New Zealand or Australia.
Writers claimed they never hosted video of the Christchurch attack and said they were never contacted by anyone with to be warned that they could be censored due to their coverage.
“Less than a week after Facebook ‘mistakenly’ banned us for two days with no explanation following several reports which were critical of the social media giant, we learned that Zero Hedge has now been banned in New Zealand and Australia, despite the fact that we never hosted video footage of the Christchurch attack.
“We were not contacted prior to the censorship. Instead, we have received a steady flood of people noting that the site is unavailable in the two countries unless a VPN is used,” a statement read.
The blog said its readership from Australia and New Zealand was “a negligible amount of traffic” but slammed the telcos for “stunning arrogance”.
“To arbitrarily impose nanny-state restrictions on content is more than a little disturbing, and should — at least in a so-called democracy — be subject to majority vote.”
Optus and Vodafone declined to name which domains they had blocked but the same platforms also failed to load on their networks today.
Vodafone said while blocking requests normally came from the courts or law enforcement agencies “this was an extreme case which we think requires an extraordinary response”.
World leader’s sick response to shootings
‘Rivers of blood’: Emergency workers tell of horror
‘DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME’
New Zealand’s stoic leader Jacinda Ardern has also responded to the tragedy with her own form of censorship, denying the attack of notoriety.
“You will never hear me mention his name,” she told NZ parliament.
“He is a terrorist, he is a criminal, he is an extremist, but he will, when I speak, be nameless, and to others I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. He may have sought notoriety but we in New Zealand will give him nothing — not even his name.”
Ms Ardern said social media companies must take responsibility for what they publish.
Meanwhile Scott Morrison’s government is also demanding social media companies take swift action to ensure what happened online during the Christchurch attack is never repeated.
The prime minister will reportedly meet with executives from Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter next Tuesday to demand they take greater responsibility for violent and disturbing content.
While the telcos have blocked specific websites Google is still currently able to show results from these websites. This will easily enable users to bypass any blocks.
The Australian reports Attorney-General Christian Porter and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield will also attend the meeting in response to massacres at New Zealand mosques being live-streamed on Facebook.
Senator Fifield said companies undertaking to do their best was no longer good enough.
“The time has come for those who own and manage platforms to accept a greater responsibility for how they’re used,” he told The Australian.
“It’s clear that while social media companies have co-operated with authorities to remove some of that disgusting content, more needs to be done. If they won’t act, we need to.”
The accused, 28, has been charged with murder following the shootings that killed 50 people and left another 50 injured.
Facebook says none of the 200 people who watched it initially reported it using the company’s content flagging tools. But this has been disputed by at least one journalist who reports raising the alarm as the stream unfolded..
Mr Morrison has also written to G20 nations asking them to consider practical ways to force companies like Facebook and Google to stop broadcasting atrocities and violent crimes.
The PM said if social media companies could write an algorithm to tailor advertising, they could come up with a way to screen out hate content.
Facebook vice president Chris Sonderby confirmed the company has to wait for users to report horrific content, but once it has been reported the company can automatically block people from uploading it again.
Originally published as Swift banning of websites after Christchurch terror attack sparks online war
That huge lump sum? Retirees don’t need it
Many people nearing retirement are over-estimating how much money they believe they will need to live well. Here’s why.
‘Insidious’: Silent epidemic costing Aussies billions
This sneaky form of abuse costs Australians more than $5 billion, making it more prevalent and dangerous than scams. Now powerful voices say it’s time to ditch the taboo.