The Government of Canada's Contributions to the Christchurch Call 2022-2023
Canada is proud to be a founding signatory of the Christchurch Call to Action. We reiterate our strong commitment to eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online and to combating hate in all its forms. More than ever, we need governments, civil society, and industry to continue working together on solutions. That's what makes the Christchurch Call so important.
As technology continues to rapidly evolve and questions around the misuse of artificial intelligence, the propagation of disinformation, and the radicalization of online spaces become increasingly relevant, supporting the Christchurch Call, and the work of the co-chairs New Zealand and France, remains a key priority for the Government of Canada.
Canada thanks Christchurch Call Special Envoy Jacinda Ardern for her leadership and commitment to eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content online. Her ability year after year to bring together leaders from around the world and representatives from technology companies is what makes the Christchurch Call so successful.
At the 2022 Summit, we announced funding to the non-profit organization Tech Against Terrorism to help smaller companies detect and remove terrorist and violent extremist content from their platforms, and we continue to take action as a government to address the spread of ideologically motivated hate.
Earlier this year, Canada was delighted to welcome the New Zealand Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Cyber & Digital, Paul Ash, to Ottawa as a keynote speaker at Public Safety Canada's week-long conference, “What to Measure, How to Prevent”, an international conference on preventing violent extremism. At the conference, he shared a video message from Christchurch Call Special Envoy Jacinda Ardern to the 300 participants from 16 countries aimed at strengthening awareness of the Christchurch Call and grow the community. At the same conference, Canada's Minister of Public Safety announced new funding through Public Safety Canada's Community Resilience Fund to help fight radicalization here at home, including several projects related to the Christchurch Call and its commitments.
The Government of Canada has also launched the Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI) to support democracy, social inclusion and a healthier online environment in Canada by building citizen resilience against online disinformation and other online harms and threats, including terrorist and violent extremist content. The Digital Citizen Contribution Program (DCCP) supports these priorities by providing funding to third party organizations undertaking research and carrying out learning activities such as public awareness tools and online workshops. Since 2020, the DCCP has supported 110 projects to help Canadians become more resilient and think critically about the information they consume online. This complements the work of law enforcement, where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), along with other law enforcement agencies, continue to work with key partners in developing and implementing countering-radicalization to violence initiatives and community outreach. The RCMP, through the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Counter-Terrorism and National Security Committee, continues to champion work in the countering radicalization space.
Growing the Christchurch community and supporting the development of international standards is a key goal for the Government of Canada. In September, Canada and the Netherlands launched the Global Declaration on Information Integrity Online, which brings together 32 countries to protect our information ecosystems, including international commitments to uphold information integrity online and strengthen our responses to the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence. Through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, we continue to advocate for improved digital industry responses to terrorist and violent extremist content around the world.
The Government of Canada believes that working with allies and likeminded partners is essential to countering violent extremism and terrorism over the longer-term, both online and offline. This includes sharing views, perspectives, and best practices to ensure a coherent, coordinated, and complementary approach. For this reason, Canada leverages a whole of society approach, involving government, industry, civil society, and academia in its efforts to address this threat.
Canada's society, like all open societies, continues to evolve in response to changing global circumstances, including the rapid spread of mis- and dis-information. Canada is dealing with an increasingly volatile environment that transcends borders, which has serious consequences domestically. We know that events happening abroad have real-time impact here in Canada.
Canada is a place where people of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome and are made to feel safe. It is important that we remain united and anchored in these values. To support this, Canada will continue to advance transparency and engagement with Canadians, including direct engagement with impacted communities and community organizations, in a manner that is consistent with our democratic values and respect for diversity and inclusion.
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