Last week, we learned that an important Government initiative with prominent international standing is creeping way beyond is mission, and could be used to suppress the views of Kiwis.

The “Christchurch Call” was launched after the “Christchurch” terrorist attack in March 2019. Its stated aim is to undermine terrorism and violent extremism online.

If that was what the Call was actually doing, and all that it was doing, it would be difficult to argue against. It goes without saying that terrorism and violent extremism are antithetical to free speech.

But buried within 370 pages of documents released under the Official Information Act, which our team analysed, are details that show that The Call has morphed into an Orwellian assault on speech rights.

The Christchurch Call, headed by Jacinda Ardern, now is specifically looking at gender-based ‘hatred’ as one of its core functions.

For example, a briefing paper to Jacinda Ardern in June 2023 outlines that NZ is working with the US, Microsoft, Twitter and OpenMined to develop an algorithmic tool that is intended to be used by social media companies. The paper notes, “We have committed to looking specifically at gender-based (including anti-LGBTQIA+) violence/hatred as a feature of the radicalisation journey.”

As Philip Crump, the Editor of ZB Plus notes “Ardern has a Senior Policy Advisor within The Call Unit whose lead responsibility is “gender” issues. There doesn’t appear to be any advisors with responsibilities covering terrorism or extremism. Why has The Call moved so far from its original purpose and when was the NZ public told of this development?”

The specific mention of “LGBTQIA+ communities” raised an immediate red flag for me. Gender identity is a ‘sacred cow’ of our time and Free Speech Union has had to intervene on several occasions to aid Kiwis who were punished or threatened for expressing views on the subject. It is one of the most aggressively policed subjects by opponents of free speech.

Despite being a woman and a lesbian, the prospect of this “gender-based” addition to The Call doesn’t make me feel protected at all.

Does it mean that if you hold the opinion that trans-women are men you are an extremist AND as dangerous as a terrorist — your opinion so unsafe it must be censored from the internet?

We can’t sit by and watch as terms like violence and terrorism are used to manipulate debate and suppress legitimate views. The “Christchurch Call” must not become a tool for politicised bureaucrats to beat down on ideas they don’t want discussed. 

<< Sign our petition calling on the Prime Minister to stop the Christchurch Call from becoming defacto hate speech laws>>

The same OIA reveals that when Special Envoy Jacinda Ardern met Second Gentlemen of the United States Douglas Emhoff (Vice President Harris’ husband) to discuss the work of the Christchurch Call, they spoke about ‘countering hate’, ‘celebrating diverse communities’ and ‘prioritising issues…that affect youth, women and LGBTQIA+ communities’, all in the name of promoting “social cohesion”.

I don’t know about you, but to me this sounds less like stopping actual terrorists and more like punishing wrong-think and social engineering…and besides, you don’t promote social cohesion by demonising and censoring your ideological foes, you harm it!

We cannot allow the “Christchurch Call” to become the Thought Police of the internet. Would you sign our petition now? 

We call on the Prime Minister to stop funding and favouring the people who’ve been abusing our sympathy and anxiety about terrorism for power to suppress free speech.

We call on him not to be their dupe.

We call on him to put people in charge who’ll focus on violent extremism, not views unpopular with those in power..

We cannot sit idly by as The Call turns into another cog in the growing censorship machine,where any content dissenting from the Government’s diversity and inclusion narrative is deemed to be too dangerous to be shared online preventing legitimate public discourse. The internet must remain an open and free space where varied opinions can be shared — we cannot let this die in the name of the dubious new civil religion of diversity and inclusion.

We cannot let this new “Christchurch Call” become another nail in the coffin of our freedom of thought and speech.

This mission creep must be reversed.

Sign our petition to reverse the “mission creep” of the Christchurch Call.

We have a track record of banding together successfully to prevent unjust infringements to our freedom of speech. Will you stand with us again?

Yours in wrong-think,

Ani O’Brien  Council Member, Free Speech Union