Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has spoken at the country’s annual conference on countering terrorism and violent extremism.
He Whenua Taurikura Hui 2022, got underway in Auckland this morning.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain recommended that Government host an annual conference to build relationships and share understanding across New Zealand of countering violent extremism and terrorism.
He Whenua Taurikura Hui 2021, held in Christchurch in June 2021, was the first of these annual hui, with approximately 340 participants.
This morning Ardern said “over 80 per cent of people have said they’re worried about the threat from mis- and dis information, hacking, and transnational organised crime.”
This was according to a recent government-led survey of more than a 1000 people.
Ardern said “We are increasingly seeing these threats impacting our communities and our businesses.
In fact, 1 in 4 people felt that mis and disinformation was the greatest threat to them and their families.”
Ardern said “we are particularly concerned about the challenge of disinformation as we see this exacerbating a number of national security issues.
It is impacting liberal democracies worldwide, eroding trust in institutions, and our ability to respond to it as a society is being tested.
This is an area too, that is ill-defined, and so naturally, people are less certain about what the government is doing or can do to protect people, and what more they can do to prepare and protect themselves.
Greater efforts are needed to detect dis-information campaigns and networks, and disrupt them, while calling out those that sponsor this activity.
We are committed to working with communities, media, academia, civil society, the private sector – especially our social media platforms to counter the threat of disinformation.”
Her speech comes just days after Justice Minister Kiri Allan said the Government intended to pass hate speech laws before the election.
“I guarantee that I’ll be introducing a law that I intend to have concluded and put into law by the next election” Allan told TVNZ on Sunday.
