The ICT4Peace Foundation and ZHET is extremely honoured and pleased to feature a video message from Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, recorded for and sent to ‘New Ec(h)o systems: Democracy in the age of social media‘ held from 16-17 March 2021. The conference was conceived of and curated by Special Advisor, Sanjana Hattotuwa and hosted by the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (NCPACS) at the University of Otago.
PM Ardern explicitly thanks Twitter in her message on account of the first of its kind partnership between NCPACS and Twitter in New Zealand, which supported Sanjana’s research into how the Christchurch massacre in March 2019 was represented on the platform. Sharing the stage with Paul Ash, who heads the Christchurch Call, Sanjana presented key aspects of his doctoral research on the second day of the conference.
PM Ardern’s stress on algorithmic harm and the importance of a free and open Internet reiterate key points in the ICT4Peace Foundation’s submission to the Paris meeting of the Christchurch Call in May 2019. Furthermore, the Foundation’s pioneering work on cyber-security, cyber-diplomacy and the mitigation of cyber-war speak to PM Ardern’s interest in mitigating “the harms technology can sometimes deliver into our institutions and lives”.