Sunday, April 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Should we give the Christchurch killer what he wants?: Leuprecht, Skillicorn and McCauley for Inside Policy

May 24, 2019
in Christian Leuprecht, Columns, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Program, In the Media, Inside Policy, Latest News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A

Controlling Internet content is ineffective in reducing extremist violence and makes bad ideas even more attractive, write Leuprecht, Skillicorn and McCauley.

By Christian Leuprecht, David Skillicorn and Clark McCauley, May 23, 2019

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The Christchurch Call – a pledge for more Internet censorship to “eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online” – will not work. To the contrary, censorship plays right into Christchurch shooter’s hands, and embolden those who are prone to emulate him. The Christchurch perpetrator and his likes have a plan: jujitsu politics – using our strength against us. They believe that over-reaction to extremist violence will strengthen the extremists’ case against the liberal consensus that dominates the Western world.

French president Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s push for the Christchurch Call is tempting because everyone, politicians first and foremost, would like to do something to prevent another Christchurch – or at least to be seen doing something.

Unfortunately, however, removing the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto from the Internet is actually counter-productive. It keeps the world ignorant of the structure and power of the ideas he espoused, without doing anything to stop their proliferation in the darkest corners of the Internet. Making bad ideas undiscussable makes them all the more attractive to some people.

Controlling Internet content is also ineffective in reducing extremist violence. Opinions, even though they may be radical or even violent, are only weakly connected to violent action. Although terrorists are radicals, most radicals are not terrorists. Trying to control ideology is both too broad and too weak to have much of an impact on violence.

The drivers of the transition from opinion to violence are complex and highly dependent on context. The Internet does not “cause” grievance. Instead, personal experience makes the political personal. Grievance is learned, and amplified first-hand: The Christchurch shooter’s 2010 trip to France (as well as North Korea, Pakistan, Eastern Europe and elsewhere) turned his grievance (from his immersion in the online world of white-nationalist message boards) into outrage.

France is exemplary of the importance of context. About 25,000 residents of France are now on the Fichiers de signalements pour la prévention et la radicalisation à caractère terroriste (FSPRT, which is France’s terrorist watch list). This is double the number at the time of the Paris attacks of 2015. About half are considered at high risk of moving from thought to action. The equivalent figure in Canada: a few hundred. Canadians have access to the same Internet material – in fact, they have access to more, because France has long “filtered” extremist Internet content. Yet, the Canadian context has proven comparatively robust against extremist violence.

Encouraging companies to remove objectionable content may sound like a good idea, but the social media business model thrives on titillation: sensationalism attracts eyeballs. These companies have little incentive to reduce such content, even though many might find it repugnant.

Mark Zuckerberg is already walking back his pledge on some of the nine points the social media giants agreed to in Paris. Why? Because Macron empowered him to do so. The French president received the privacy delinquent and tax refugee like a sovereign digital economic actor: a warm welcome with all the honours at the Elysée Palace. Zuckerberg featured prominently front and almost-centre in the obligatory group guest photo, one removed from Macron by Rwandan president Paul Kagame. Zuckerberg seemed elated to be back among friends. He had just returned from shutting down debate after 90 minutes of grilling by European parliamentarians in Brussels.

Western democracies depend on an informed citizenry, in which bad ideas are driven out by better ideas. Having the government decide what ideas are acceptable is a quagmire. Delegating private companies such as Facebook and Google to decide what ideas are acceptable is corporate fascism.

Looking back at the war on terrorism that began with the 9/11 attacks, has it really been so successful that we should now extend it to targeting ideas? If suppressing radical ideas would keep us safe, the Soviet Union would still be with us.

Christian Leuprecht is Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership at the Royal Military College and Queen’s University, Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and currently Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome. David Skillicorn is Professor in the School of Computing at Queen’s University. Clark McCauley is Research Professor at Bryn Mawr College.

Their chapter titled “Terrorists, Radicals, and Activists: Distinguishing Between Countering Violent Extremism and Preventing Extremist Violence, and Why It Matters” in Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism is forthcoming with Queen’s University Press.

Tags: christian leuprecht
Previous Post

Would a handgun ban help reduce gun violence in Canada? Christian Leuprecht on CTV News

Next Post

The China-U.S. trade war presents an existential crisis for the G20 nations: J. Berkshire Miller in the Globe and Mail

Related Posts

Does the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline hurt Indigenous people? Yes: Stephen Buffalo in the Toronto Star
Columns

Is Alberta Oil Ethical? Heather Exner-Pirot in Alberta Views

March 31, 2023
Canada’s rising carbon tax, energy prices and the Supreme Court: Andrew Roman for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Canada’s rising carbon tax, energy prices and the Supreme Court: Andrew Roman for Inside Policy

March 31, 2023
Another found of trade negotiations with the US: How to avoid surprises – Lawrence L. Herman for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Another found of trade negotiations with the US: How to avoid surprises – Lawrence L. Herman for Inside Policy

March 31, 2023
Next Post
The China-U.S. trade war presents an existential crisis for the G20 nations: J. Berkshire Miller in the Globe and Mail

The China-U.S. trade war presents an existential crisis for the G20 nations: J. Berkshire Miller in the Globe and Mail

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Follow us on

Newsletter Signup

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

Inside Policy Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
  • Advertising
  • Inside Policy Blog
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.