What does our updated Crisis Response Protocol actually do?
By the CCF Secretariat Team
Supporters of the Christchurch Call – both governments and tech companies - have committed to have processes in place so they can work together in a rapid and effective response when content from a terrorist or violent extremist attack is threatening to spread quickly on the internet.
Developing and improving these processes – the crisis response system - has been a priority for the Community since the launch of the Call. Never again should a terrorist be able to livestream murder, as the Christchurch terrorist did. The way he abused the internet compounded the real-world harm of his attack. It violated the dignity and privacy of victims. It traumatised family, friends, the Muslim community and social media users who unwillingly received and viewed it.
The Christchurch Call launched its first crisis protocol for better communication and coordination among supporters in September 2019. Alongside that, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism developed its incident response framework for sharing information and hashes among its 32 members. The EU launched Europol’s Crisis Protocol. And Tech Against Terrorism set up the Terrorist Content Analytics Platform for alerting terrorist content for ~150 mostly smaller firms. Together, these protocols and tools make up the crisis response system.
This system has proved its worth in responding to incidents involving similar circumstances and tactics to the Christchurch attack, for example, in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022, or more recently in Perry, Iowa.1
Over time, however, this system has proved less responsive to incidents in non-Western countries, or involving bystander or other forms of third-party livestream, video or images, even when the kinds and level of harm associated with the content are arguably similar.
The limitations were clear in the context of content arising from Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s subsequent military operations in Gaza.
At the Leaders’ Summit in November 2023, Call Leaders asked the Community to review the crisis response system and the CRP to ensure we can respond together – globally – to a wider range of incidents. They asked us to consider the threats and opportunities of emerging technologies such as generative AI, continue improving support for small firms, and consider approaches for de-escalating tensions and preventing violence.
Through late 2023 and early 2024, the Community worked to scope and develop its new protocol. Now, with the Foundation set up and operational, we are launching CRP 2.0.
So, what’s changed?
First, this protocol is for the whole Call Community – not just the governments and tech companies that support the Call, but also our partners and Christchurch Call Advisory Network (CCAN). Members were instrumental in monitoring and assessing the online situation after 7 October, and in identifying human rights impacts arising from the content, and from industry and government responses.
Under the new protocol, any member of the Community can alert the Foundation to attack-related content and be part of a coordinated response. This befits our multistakeholder approach and means we can bring the whole Community’s expertise and capabilities to the task.
Second, the new protocol lets the Community respond to a broader range of incidents within the remit of the Call, wherever they occur in the world and whether the content be perpetrator-produced, bystander or CCTV footage, or even wholly artificial. The key test in the new protocol is that the content is likely to do immediate and significant harm to people in Call supporter countries.
Third, the updated protocol clearly spells out its unique role in the crisis response system. That is to facilitate high-level information sharing across the Community, to give everyone an overview of the incident, and to guide a coordinated and effective response, in line with Call commitments.
When scope criteria are met and we activate the protocol as part of a response, the Foundation will act as a communication and information-sharing hub, seeking information from key players and sharing it with the whole community, and convening discussions to address specific issues.
Call supporters will continue to assess and act on content in line with the law and policies they each have in place. The new CRP enables oversight and feedback on the range of responses (e.g. blurring, labelling), which should be targeted, proportionate, and necessary in the circumstances.
At the 2023 Summit, Leaders also directed the Call Community to continue improving support for smaller tech firms to address terrorist and violent extremist content on their platforms. Tech Against Terrorism has expanded their approach to complement the CRP and other protocols. They will alert crisis content, whether current or historic, and including third party content that glorifies a perpetrator or attack. The Australian Government is funding Tech Against Terrorism to establish a presence in our region, enabling 24/7 response capability. These changes significantly strengthen the system.
We are excited to be launching this updated protocol, but there is always more work to be done. The protocol provides a platform for subsequent development of strategic communications. We want to enable it to speak as a Community and to amplify the voices of partners who stand against terrorism and violent extremism online and want to reduce hate and violence, and their impacts.
We also wish to provide for more systematic and meaningful debriefs for the multistakeholder Community. The Community will be working on its approach to debriefing, including how to collect data during and after incidents that will enable us to evaluate performance, compare, and continue to improve.