TERRORISM – NEW ZEALAND

Warning on knee-jerk social media legislation

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Original article by Natasha Gillezeau, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 1-Apr-19

Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses has accused the federal government of a "knee jerk" response to the Christchurch mosque shootings. The government plans to introduce legislation that would see social media companies punished for not removing violent videos from their platforms, with the Christchurch attacks having been live-streamed by the alleged shooter. Moses says the government should have looked at banning hate speech on social media, which he contends is what causes people to commit such attacks in the first place.

CORPORATES
LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CRESCENT WEALTH FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD

Twitter upgrades terror fight

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Original article by
The Australian – Page: 19 : 28-Mar-19

A spokesman for Twitter says the social media company is constantly monitoring its platform for keywords and hashtags that might be associated with content advocating terrorism or other extremist activity. Twitter says more than 90 per cent of terrorist content is proactively removed from its platform, and it will continue to invest in technology to address the issue as well as co-operating with governments and industry. Social media companies have attracted scrutiny after the Christchurch mosque shootings were live-streamed on Facebook.

CORPORATES
TWITTER INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Social media chiefs get jail term warning

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 26-Mar-19

Social media companies and internet service providers will meet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 26 March. The meeting has been convened in the wake of the live-streaming of the Christchurch mosque shootings on Facebook. Morrison says the federal government will act if social media companies are not prepared to take steps to prevent the use of their platforms in a similar fashion. The threat of jail terms for social media executives who are not seen to be co-operating with the government on the issue has been raised.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TWITTER AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Never again: NZ bans semi-automatics

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Original article by Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 8 : 22-Mar-19

New Zealand will ban semi-automatic rifles in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings, with Prime Minister ­Jacinda Ardern saying she is determined to ensure that such an attack never happens again. The government will conduct a gun buyback as part of its gun control measures, with the buyback expected to cost between $NZ100 million and $NZ200 million. Ardern has called for New Zealand to observe two minutes’ silence on 22 March. It is estimated that there are around 1.5 million firearms in New Zealand.

CORPORATES
NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Morrison includes telcos in social media crackdown

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 21-Mar-19

The federal government will meet with representatives of ISPs and digital platforms on 26 March to discuss measures to prevent the distribution of objectionable content. Social media companies have come under scrutiny after their platforms were used to live-stream the Christchurch mosque shootings, and they were initially expected to be the focus of the government’s talks. However, representatives of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will also attend the meeting in Brisbane. The telcos have announced that they will block access to footage of the mosque attacks.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Turkey threatens Anzac ties

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Original article by Simon Benson, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 21-Mar-19

The federal government has not ruled out severing diplomatic ties with Turkey in the wake of inflammatory comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has requested urgent talks with Turkey’s ambassador to Australia, and he has demanded an apology after Erdogan said Australian tourists could return home in coffins in reprisal for the Christchurch mosque attacks. The diplomatic row has cast doubt on future Gallipoli commemorations and heightened concerns about the safety of Australians who travel to Turkey for the upcoming ANZAC Day service.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Push to curb social giants like traditional media

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Original article by John Davidson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Mar-19

Sacha Molitorisz of the Centre for Media Transition says digital platforms should be subject to the same regulation as traditional media companies with regard to the distribution of objectionable content. He supports the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s proposal for a single media regulator. The issue has attracted renewed scrutiny in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attack, with digital companies unlikely to be censured for allowing it to be streamed live on their platforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY. CENTRE FOR MEDIA TRANSITION, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, SKY NEWS

G20 must act on social evils

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Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says greater regulation of social media platforms should be a top priority for the next G20 leaders’ meeting in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attack. Morrison has written to G20 chairman Shinzo Abe arguing that the internet should not be regarded as an ungoverned space, and technology companies should be more accountable for the objectionable content that is distributed via their digital platforms. Facebook removed some 1.5 million live-streamed videos from its platform during the first 24 hours after the attack.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Tribalism dividing Australia: Morrison

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Original article by Ben Packham, John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for a more inclusive Australia, as well as attacking the dangers of tribalism. Speaking just days after the Christchurch mosque killings, Morrison said people on both sides of politics are seeking to distort public debate in order to divide Australians in the aftermath of the attacks. He said Australians should be allowed to express concerns about population growth without being labelled racist or anti-migrant, while opposition leader Bill Shorten said politicians should try to avoid point-scoring in the wake of the attacks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Global backlash against social media live-streaming of atrocity

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Mar-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for social media platforms to suspend live streaming in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack. Brenton Tarrant used Facebook to live stream his attack, and versions of his video were then seen on Twitter and YouTube. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have blocked and removed hundreds of versions of the video, while Facebook took down 1.5 million videos of the footage within 24 hours of the attack. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she intends to take up the issue of live streaming with Facebook directly.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET