The DIA can request content be removed if it has been classified as objectionable by the Chief Censor. While sharing or even viewing the video could land people in prison in New Zealand, the Department of Internal Affairs doesn't have the formal power to request takedowns of harmful content overseas.īut there is a law change currently being considered that would give it the ability to issue take down notices to online platforms for objectionable material.īecause the majority of harmful content is hosted offshore, documents Newshub has seen show the DIA has developed relationships with social media platforms and law enforcement agencies overseas to seek collaboration on removing harmful content. The terrorist's livestream led Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to establish the global Christchurch Call to combat online harm.īut two years after the video was made, efforts to stop its spread did not appear to be working, after RNZ revealed a simple search using an alternative search engine to Google led straight to the footage. The funding was provided in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack. The Government gave the Department of Internal Affairs a $17 million boost in 2019 to support keeping Kiwis safe from online harm. Newshub revealed last month that more than 85 links containing violent extremist material had been taken down following Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) investigations. That's despite the original video being shared more than a million times internationally.Įfforts have been made to clamp down on the proliferation of terrorist content. Newshub revealed in June that seven people were prosecuted for sharing the footage in March 2019, followed by four more that year and five people in 2020. The Christchurch terror attack brought white supremacist extremism into the spotlight in New Zealand, with the Security Intelligence Service spy agency found to have been focussing too much on Islamic terrorism.

The student's investigation uncovered plots to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccination and plans to influence political parties.

It's reminiscent of findings published by Dunedin student magazine writer Elliot Weir, who spent six months as a member of Action Zealandia, a far-right extremist group in New Zealand with 30 active members. It was found that Australia's largest white supremacist group, the National Socialist Network, idolise the Australian man who carried out the Christchurch terror attack, for which he is imprisoned for life without parole.

Christchurch video download