Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern will take on a new role working alongside international governments and social media companies to target extremism and terrorist content online.
Prime minister Chris Hipkins announced on Tuesday evening that he had appointed Ardern as special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position.
The Christchurch Call was created by Ardern in the wake of the 15 March 2019 mosque shootings, in which a white supremacist killed 51 people during an attack on two mosques in Christchurch.
The attack was livestreamed and broadcast on a number of social media platforms, and in the months that followed, Ardern created the initiative to push companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to put in place stronger protections against the spread of extremist violent content.
“I … still feel a duty at a personal level to the community who are affected by this tragedy,” Ardern said in an interview on Tuesday evening, her first since her resignation in January. “I knew that I would have the time to do it. And I certainly have the passion for it,” she said.
“The March 15 terror attacks on Christchurch masjidain were a defining moment for our country and Jacinda Ardern’s leadership and the Christchurch Call is part of our response to those attacks,” Hipkins said.
“Jacinda Ardern’s commitment to stopping violent extremist content like we saw that day is key to why she should carry on this work. Her relationships with leaders and technology companies and her drive for change will help increase the pace and ambition of the work we are doing,” he said.
The Christchurch Call project calls on signatory nations to adopt and enforce laws that ban objectionable material, and set guidelines on how traditional media can report acts of terrorism without amplifying them.
In her first substantial media appearances since stepping down as prime minister, Ardern said that she believed her resignation could lower the temperature in New Zealand’s political discourse after deep divisions emerged around vaccination, the country’s Covid response, and her as a figure.
“It did occur to me that my departure might just take a bit of heat out,” Ardern said in one of two Tuesday night television appearances.
“If it did, that would be good for New Zealand,” she said. “I knew I was a flashpoint for some people, and again [while] that wasn’t the basis of my decision, I hoped it would be a consequence of my decision.”
“When I’ve watched on, I’ve felt like, yeah, I feel like I was right.”
Particularly in the final year of her tenure, Ardern became a lightning rod for anti-government, anti-vaccination and far right groups, with a number of men prosecuted for making threats against her and her family.
Asked whether her leaving had benefited her party, Ardern said. “I didn’t think about it as a party political person, I thought about whether or not that would just be good for New Zealand as a whole – I do think that taking a pause, taking a breath, reminding each other that we’re all just humans. If my departure has given people a bit of time to step back from some of those extreme emotions, that’s not a bad thing.”
Overall, Ardern said, her positive interactions with New Zealanders far outweighed the negative. “Of course I experience people’s thoughts and feelings face to face, and I could see there were people on both ends of the extreme … some I absolutely am aware, felt very strongly in a negative way about me and my leadership,” she said, whereas others were highly positive, sending cards, letters, and cups of tea.
Ardern also announced she would be joining the board of trustees of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which awards five £1m prizes each year for work providing solutions to major environmental problems.
Ardern said she “believed Earthshot’s power to encourage and spread not only the innovation we desperately need, but also optimism”.
Prince William said that Ardern would “bring a rich infusion of new thinking to our mission”.
“Four years ago, before The Earthshot Prize even had a name, Jacinda was one of the first people I spoke to, and her encouragement and advice was crucial,” he said.
With her time as member of New Zealand’s parliament coming to an end this week, the former prime minister’s exit has been a quiet one: refusing all interviews since her resignation. Ardern was due to make a television appearance – her first since her shock resignation in January – later on Tuesday, and will make her valedictory speech to the House on Wednesday.
The newly created special position will “represent New Zealand’s continued commitment to push for greater protection online from terrorist and violent extremist content,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. In the new position, Ardern will report directly to the prime minister, and will work closely with France as co-leaders. She will begin her duties later this month, on 17 April. She will not accept remuneration for the role.
