"We will condemn this horrifying act of violence as extreme and out of the ordinary, we will come together as a nation and hold vigils, and we will try to move on from this tragic incident," says Lamia Imam.

But she thinks that unless some very difficult actions are taken "vigils and speeches are useless. We are just waiting for the next massacre".

"We need policy changes from the government - to media outlets to social media platforms.

"We need to decide what our values are and if anti-immigrant racist sentiments align to those values."

If they don't, she says such sentiments should not be given a platform.

Though Facebook New Zealand, Google and Twitter all issued statements hours after the attack that they were working with the New Zealand Police to take down content associated with the attack, the content had by then spread far and wide across the web.

"If we want to change hearts and minds, we must show what the alternative is," said Imam.

Editors have to be willing to give up on "clicks", political leaders have to be willing to reject "racist votes", social media platforms have to forgo revenue.

The New Zealand Government has sought "urgent" advice from the State Services Commission about how its agencies use social media platforms.

Many New Zealand businesses said they are reassessing their use of social media channels for advertising.

The CEOs of three of New Zealand's largest broadband providers, Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees, have published an open letter to the major social media providers.

Following European proposals which include taking down material within a specified period, they suggest proactive measures and fines of up to $80m for failure to do so.

Dr Paul Ralph has published an open letter to Facebook.

He lists the role social media play in terrorism and hate speech.

Ralph goes on to suggest what the social media platforms could and must do to stop providing extremists with a platform to spread their message.

Lamia Imam was born in NZ and grew up in Bangladesh and the US before attending the University of Canterbury, majoring in Political Science and Law. She currently works as a Communications Manager in Austin, Texas.

Paul Ralph is a senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Auckland.

Source

• newsroom
• .stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• newstalkzb.co.nz
• noted.co.nz
• Image: newstalkzb.co.nz

In view of this result, Christians say they have growing concerns about government plans to crack down on "non-violent extremism". Read more

Miss Clark, who is head of the United Nations Development Programme, said this at the opening of the new Religious Diversity Centre in Wellington last week.

She is to be patron of the centre.

"Our world badly needs such models [as New Zealand]. On so many days now when I see the news headlines I often think how fortunate we are," she said in Wellington.

She referred to "societies ripped apart by violent extremists with the extremists claiming so often to act in the name of the faith and yet prepared to violate every single principle of those faiths".

"The world badly needs voices of reason and tolerance and those who will work to build dialogue and respect across faiths and beliefs.

"I do believe that New Zealand can show the way."

Miss Clark said the role of faith-based actors had special significance in those parts of the world where governance structures were very weak and the state could not give access to basic services like education, justice, health and security.

She said the UNDP acknowledges the role of the faith actors in local communities.

Faith organisations often deliver critical services.

And faith leaders can mobilise grassroots support and earn the trust of vulnerable communities.

"They also have the ability to influence very significantly cultural norms and social cohesion," Miss Clark said.

"What is said at the pulpit on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays matters a lot to society."

Sources

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: UNDP

Such religious leaders could also have to enrol in a "national register of faith leaders", as part of the UK Government's new counter-extremism strategy.

A leaked draft of the strategy from the Home Office was seen by the Daily Telegraph.

The strategy, due to be published this northern autumn, says that Whitehall will "require all faiths to maintain a national register of faith leaders".

It also states that the Government will "set out the minimum level of training and checks" faith leaders must have to join the new register.

Registration will be compulsory for all faith leaders who wish to work with the public sector, including universities, the document states.

In practice, most UK faith leaders have some dealings with the public sector and the requirement will cover the great majority.

The move marks a significant deepening of the state's involvement in religion and is likely to be resisted by many religious representatives.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said it had not been consulted on the proposals.

Other senior Catholic sources told the Daily Telegraph that any plan for state supervision of priests would be "firmly resisted".

Imam Maulana Shah Raza warned the Government "not to meddle in religious affairs or to expand the state's involvement in deciding on religious and theological issues".

He said: "The Government needs to concentrate on ensuring that safeguards are in place to protect the public and treating all faith communities equally."

The document states the UK Government will also set out a new "framework for intervention" when local councils "fail" to tackle extremism.

The document states that Whitehall "will compel schools, including academies, to have at least one governor or trustee with no familial or business ties to the school, and who lives outside the catchment area".

Sources

• Daily Telegraph
• Image: Wikipedia