An expert in finding extremist content is calling on advertisers to start pulling money from social media companies to get them to listen about extremist content on their platforms.
Social media algorithms and their promotion of violent and extremist content will be on the agenda for world leaders, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern co-hosting a Christchurch Call leader's summit with France President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday afternoon whilst she's in New York for the United Nations general assembly.
The Christchurch Call is a group of nations and technology companies committed to ending violent and extremist online content.
It was formed by New Zealand and France in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack on March 15, 2019.
"This is a real centrepiece for New Zealand," Ardern said from New York on Wednesday.
"It's obviously been operating for several years now and we continue to make progress on the ambition there."
National Coalition of a Safer Web vice president Eric Feinberg called on advertisers to take a stand and act on their words.
"Not enough attention is being paid and not enough resources and money is being thrown at it, including the social media platforms. One of the arguments I make is the advertisers aren't doing enough," he told AM fill-in host Mike McRoberts.
"A few years ago, the advertising community came up with GARM, which is the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. They should be putting more pressure on social media platforms and I don't see it, it's all talking points and all rhetoric and they're not getting to the root of the problem."
Ardern has hinted an announcement is likely at the United National General Assembly in relation to the Christchurch Call.
Feinberg told AM on Wednesday new forms of video on social media platforms TikTok and Facebook are contributing to the issue of extremist content online.
He is calling on members of the Christchurch Call to go after the product design of social media platforms.
"The live videos, the algorithmic application, the use of tools such as disposable video, such as Facebook, which has a thing called top stories, Snapchat and now this TikTok phenomenon, which Facebook is captured with reels," he said.
"This makes it very difficult to kind of capture this nefarious extremist content because, in a 30, 60-second video clip, you can do a good job of hiding that portion of the video that is the extremist content."
Feinberg said Christchurch Call should be reaching out to third-party groups like his National Coalition of a Safer Web to understand what is happening online.
"I don't think enough attention or them reaching out to subject matter experts like myself to really see what's going on and not to take the word of the social media and encrypted app platforms on their own. They need third parties like ourselves to really vet this stuff."
Watch the full interview with Eric Feinberg above.
