Still reeling under shock and grief over shooting at two Christchurch mosques that killed 50 people, New Zealand braces itself for burials of victims of the shooting that was carried out by a white supremacist. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the Muslim call for prayer— the Azaan — would be broadcast on national television and radio as a soon of solidarity with the country’s Muslim community after the Christchurch carnage. She also announced that New Zealand would hold two minutes of silence as a mark of respect for the dead on the day and women in the country were being encouraged to wear headscarves to show their support for the Muslim community.
Ardern also made it clear that she would not address the shooter by his name. The 44-year-old businessman who is in police custody after a preliminary court appearance will be sentenced to 14 years in prison if found guilty.
She also said that she needed answers from social media giants, especially Facebook where the video of the shooting was viewed around 200 times, but had managed to be circulated 1.5 million times, as to how they did not think of blocking the footage.
She added that while while her focus was on the people of New Zealand, there were issues world leaders needed “to confront collectively”.
“We cannot, for instance, just simply deal with some of the issues we face with our social media to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
“There is an argument there to be made for us to take a united front on a global issue,” Ardern said.
“This is not just an issue for New Zealand, the fact that social media platforms have been used to spread violence (and) material that incites violence. All of us need to present a united front.”
In the United States, a congressional panel said it was asking top executives from US tech firms to explain the proliferation online of the “horrific” video.
Social media companies have long argued that they are not responsible for what is put on their platforms but Ardern has countered that they cannot simply be “all profit, no responsibility”.
