Jacinda Ardern’s War Against Free Speech
Jacinda Ardern is continuing her war against free speech post her Prime Ministership. She is now New Zealand’s Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call combating online extremism.
The Christchurch Call was founded in May 2019 by Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron two months after the Christchurch massacre where Australian-born Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 Muslim worshippers inside a Christchurch mosque. The Call is a commitment by Governments and online service providers to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.
In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York said the world needs the will to overcome mis and disinformation online which she claims poses a threat to the norms we all value. Ardern claimed mis and disinformation pose a threat to governments tackling climate change and upholding the human rights of others against hate speech.
During the covid lockdown and mandate years, Jacinda Ardern told New Zealanders her government would continue to be citizens’ single source of truth.
Ardern is in the United States currently after accepting fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School for a semester and serving as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as a Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership. She resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand in January after her popularity plummeted due to out-of-control inflation with her former Covid Minister Chris Hipkins taking over to lead her Labour Party to the October 14 New Zealand general election.