Official speeches and statements - May 16, 2019

1. Christchurch Call - Christchurch Call to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online - Press release issued by the Presidency of the Republic (Paris, 15/05/2019)
French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern have mobilized a group of heads of state and government, international organizations and leaders of businesses and digital organizations to take action against terrorist and extremist content online and end the exploitation of the Internet by terrorist actors.

Through the Christchurch Call - named after the New Zealand city in which 51 people from the Muslim community were killed in terrorist attacks broadcast live on the Internet on 15 March 2019 -, 10 heads of state, government and international organizations, as well as major players in the digital sector, pledge to take collective action, in coordination with civil society, to eliminate this online content.

The Christchurch Call is an action plan that commits governments, international organizations and Internet players to take a series of measures, in particular: developing tools to prevent the downloading of terrorist and violent extremist content; combating the causes of violent extremism; improving transparency in the detection and removal of content; and ensuring that the algorithms designed and used by businesses do not direct users towards violent extremist content, so as to reduce their viral nature.

"We can be proud of what we have started with the adoption of the Christchurch Call. We’ve taken practical steps to try and stop what we experienced in Christchurch from happening again. The 15 March attack was shocking in its use of social media as a tool in the act of terror and with the Christchurch Call we have taken a unique approach to solving this problem," said Jacinda Ardern.

For the first time, governments, international organizations, businesses and digital organizations agreed on a package of measures and long-term cooperation to make the Internet safer.

The work done today is only the first step towards a common goal of eliminating terrorist content online. But the measures taken to achieve this are not limited to what has been done today: an agreement was reached to continue cooperative work in order to improve collective security.

"We must make efforts on behalf of the people affected by the Christchurch attack, and of other towns and cities in the world hit by terrorism and violent extremism/."

The Call takes account of the fact that state regulation alone will not suffice to resolve the problem. It is necessary to call on the creativity and technical know-how of Internet businesses and organizations to come up with solutions, whilst ensuring respect for Internet freedom and preserving the Internet’s ability to act as a force for good.

President Emmanuel Macron said: "We must build a free, open and safe Internet, which makes it possible for everyone to share, learn and innovate, but also allows us to uphold our values, protect our fellow citizens and give them a sense of responsibility."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: "From here, I will work alongside others signed up to the Christchurch Call to bring more partners on board, and develop a range of practical initiatives to ensure the pledge we have made today is delivered."

New Zealand and France will present the Christchurch Call to other countries and companies and take forward these objectives in other international fora. We shall have a further meeting this year, during the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level segment, where we hope significant progress will be made in this area.

The Call was adopted by France, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Jordan, Norway, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Indonesia, the European Commission and by Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Qwant, Twitter, YouTube and DailyMotion. Other countries, including Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden have also lent their support to the Call./.

2. Fight against terrorism - Christchurch Call to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online - Charter (Paris, 15/05/2019)

CHRISTCHURCH CALL

A free, open and secure Internet is a powerful tool by which to promote connectivity, enhance social inclusiveness and foster economic growth.

The Internet is, however, not immune from abuse by terrorist and violent extremist actors. This was tragically highlighted by the terrorist attacks of 15 March 2019 on the Muslim community of Christchurch - terrorist attacks that were designed to go viral.

The dissemination of such content online has adverse impacts on the human rights of thevictims, on our collective security and on people all over the world.

Significant steps have already been taken to address this issue by, among others, the European Commission with initiatives such as the EU Internet Forum, the G20, and the G7, including work underway during France’s G7 Presidency on combating the use of the Internet for terrorist and violent extremist purposes, along with the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), the Global Counterterrorism Forum, Tech Against Terrorism, and the Aqaba Process established by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The events of Christchurch highlighted once again the urgent need for action and enhanced cooperation among the wide range of actors with influence over this issue, including governments, civil society, and online service providers, such as social media companies, to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.

The Call outlines collective, voluntary commitments from governments and online service providers intended to address the issue of terrorist and violent extremist content online and to prevent the abuse of the Internet as occurred in and after the Christchurch attacks.

All action on this issue must be consistent with principles of a free, open and secure Internet, without compromising human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression. It must also recognise the Internet’s ability to act as a force for good, including by promoting innovation and economic development and fostering inclusive societies.

GOVERNMENTS’ PLEDGES

To that end, we, the governments, commit to:

Counter the drivers of terrorism and violent extremism by strengthening the resilience and inclusiveness of our societies to enable them to resist terrorist and violent extremist ideologies, including through education, building media literacy to help counter distorted terrorist and violent extremist narratives, and the fight against inequality.

Ensure effective enforcement of applicable laws that prohibit the production or dissemination of terrorist and violent extremist content, in a manner consistent with the rule of law and international human rights law, including freedom of expression.

Encourage media outlets to apply ethical standards when depicting terrorist events online, to avoid amplifying terrorist and violent extremist content.

Support frameworks, such as industry standards, to ensure that reporting on terrorist attacks does not amplify terrorist and violent extremist content, without prejudice to responsible coverage of terrorism and violent extremism.

Consider appropriate action to prevent the use of online services to disseminate terrorist and violent extremist content, including through collaborative actions, such as:

• Awareness-raising and capacity-building activities aimed at smaller online service providers;
• Development of industry standards or voluntary frameworks;
• Regulatory or policy measures consistent with a free, open and secure Internet and international human rights law.

SERVICE PROVIDERS’ PLEDGES

To that end, we, the online service providers, commit to:

Take transparent, specific measures seeking to prevent the upload of terrorist and violent extremist content and to prevent its dissemination on social media and similar content-sharing services, including its immediate and permanent removal, without prejudice to law enforcement and user appeals requirements, in a manner consistent with human rights and fundamental freedoms. Cooperative measures to achieve these outcomes may include technology development, the expansion and use of shared databases of hashes and URLs, and effective notice and takedown procedures.

Provide greater transparency in the setting of community standards or terms of service, including by:

• Outlining and publishing the consequences of sharing terrorist and violent extremist content;
• Describing policies and putting in place procedures for detecting and removing terrorist and violent extremist content.

Enforce those community standards or terms of service in a manner consistent with human rights and fundamental freedoms, including by:

• Prioritising moderation of terrorist and violent extremist content, however identified;
• Closing accounts where appropriate;
• Providing an efficient complaints and appeals process for those wishing to contest the removal of their content or a decision to decline the upload of their content.

Implement immediate, effective measures to mitigate the specific risk that terrorist and violent extremist content is disseminated through livestreaming, including identification of content for real-time review.

Implement regular and transparent public reporting, in a way that is measurable and supported by clear methodology, on the quantity and nature of terrorist and violent extremist content being detected and removed.

Review the operation of algorithms and other processes that may drive users towards and/or amplify terrorist and violent extremist content to better understand possible intervention points and to implement changes where this occurs. This may include using algorithms and other processes to redirect users from such content or the promotion of credible, positive alternatives or counter-narratives. This may include building appropriate mechanisms for reporting, designed in a multi-stakeholder process and without compromising trade secrets or the effectiveness of service providers’ practices through unnecessary disclosure.

Work together to ensure cross-industry efforts are coordinated and robust, for instance by investing in and expanding the GIFCT, and by sharing knowledge and expertise.

JOINT PLEDGES

To that end, we, governments and online service providers, commit to work collectively to:

Work with civil society to promote community-led efforts to counter violent extremism in all its forms, including through the development and promotion of positive alternatives and counter-messaging.

Develop effective interventions, based on trusted information sharing about the effects of algorithmic and other processes, to redirect users from terrorist and violent extremist content.

Accelerate research into and development of technical solutions to prevent the upload of and to detect and immediately remove terrorist and violent extremist content online, and share these solutions through open channels, drawing on expertise from academia, researchers, and civil society.

Support research and academic efforts to better understand, prevent and counter terrorist and violent extremist content online, including both the offline and online impacts of this activity.

Ensure appropriate cooperation with and among law enforcement agencies for the purposes of investigating and prosecuting illegal online activity in regard to detected and/or removed terrorist and violent extremist content, in a manner consistent with rule of law and human rights protections.

Support smaller platforms as they build capacity to remove terrorist and violent extremist content, including through sharing technical solutions and relevant databases of hashes or other relevant material, such as the GIFCT shared database.

Collaborate, and support partner countries, in the development and implementation of best practice in preventing the dissemination of terrorist and violent extremist content online, including through operational coordination and trusted information exchanges in accordance with relevant data protection and privacy rules.

Develop processes allowing governments and online service providers to respond rapidly, effectively and in a coordinated manner to the dissemination of terrorist or violent extremist content following a terrorist event. This may require the development of a shared crisis protocol and information-sharing processes, in a manner consistent with human rights protections.

Respect, and for governments protect, human rights, including by avoiding directly or indirectly contributing to adverse human rights impacts through business activities and addressing such impacts where they occur.

Recognise the important role of civil society in supporting work on the issues and commitments in the Call, including through:

• Offering expert advice on implementing the commitments in this Call in a manner consistent with a free, open and secure Internet and with international human rights law;
• Working, including with governments and online service providers, to increase transparency;
• Where necessary, working to support users through company appeals and complaints processes.

Affirm our willingness to continue to work together, in existing fora and relevant organizations, institutions, mechanisms and processes to assist one another and to build momentum and widen support for the Call.

Will develop and support a range of practical, non-duplicative initiatives to ensure that this pledge is delivered.

Acknowledge that governments, online service providers, and civil society may wish to take further cooperative action to address a broader range of harmful online content, such as the actions that will discussed further during the G7 Biarritz Summit, the G20, the Aqaba Process, the Five Country Ministerial, and a range of other fora./.

3. Yemen - Press briefing by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson (Paris, 15/05/2019)

France welcomes the announcement by the UN of the start of operations to redeploy the forces present along the west coast of Yemen, in the ports of Salif, Ras-Issa and Hodeidah. These movements are an encouraging sign in terms of the implementation of the agreements reached between the Yemeni parties in Stockholm on 13 December 2018. We reaffirm our support for the United Nations Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), whose presence on the ground is key to monitoring and facilitating the redeployment, as provided for by UNSCR 2452 (2019).

France calls on all of the parties to uphold their commitments and to fully implement the redeployment, including with respect to the city of Hodeidah. Compliance with these commitments by all parties is critical to allowing the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which the Yemeni population desperately needs.

At the same time, France strongly condemns the drone attacks against Saudi oil facilities, for which the Houthis have claimed responsibility. These attacks, which undermine Saudi Arabia’s security and the stability of the region, are unacceptable. France calls on all parties to refrain from any escalation that could jeopardize the political process aimed at resolving the Yemeni crisis.

The resumption of discussions on a comprehensive and inclusive political agreement, taking the diversity of Yemeni actors into account, offers the only real prospect of putting an end to the conflict in Yemen. To that end, France renews its support for the mediation efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths./.

4. European Union - Declaration by the High Representative, Federica Mogherini, on behalf of the EU on the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, 17 May 2019 - Press release issued by the Council of the European Union (Brussels, 16/05/2019)

On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the European Union reiterates its unswerving commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons.

Across the world, cultural, traditional or religious values continue to be used to justify persecution, discrimination, bullying and gross ill-treatment against LGBTI persons, often involving hate crimes and extreme forms of violence, including torture and murder.

In 72 countries, sexual orientation laws continue to criminalise same-sex acts, and in other countries, the laws do not offer the necessary level of protection, allowing various forms of discrimination to happen on a daily basis in all spheres of life of LGBTI persons. The EU strongly reaffirms that discrimination against LGBTI persons undermines the most basic human rights principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The EU continues its fight against impunity for acts of discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons both inside and outside its territory. In this context, the Commission published a list of actions to advance LGBTI equality, to be implemented by the Commission between 2016 and 2019, which includes activities in various relevant policy areas ranging from non-discrimination, education, employment, health, free movement, asylum, hate speech/hate crime, to enlargement and foreign policy.

Through its external action, the EU holds regular political dialogues with third countries and supports civil society organisations through targeted financial assistance. Since 2016, the EU has supported 16 projects implemented by civil society organisations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe worth euro5.2 million. In 2018, the EU launched a specific call for proposals worth euro10 million to support LGBTI organisations worldwide. Moreover, the recent adoption of the EU Human Rights Guidelines on Non-Discrimination reinforces the existing EU Guidelines to promote and protect the enjoyment of all human rights by LGBTI persons.

Countless LGBTI rights defenders working to challenge injustice and give a voice to those who suffer oppression and discrimination frequently face attacks in Europe and in many parts of the world. This is why since November 2018, the EU, through its Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, is supporting LGBTI Human Rights Defenders and their organisations active in areas where LGBTI persons are most at risk of discrimination.

The EU, hand in hand with its Member States, will continue supporting the essential work of these advocates and will not stop until all LGBTI persons can live freely and safely./.