Jacinda Ardern meeting Jack Dorsey in Paris in May in the days leading up to the Christchurch Call summit. Photo / PMO
Jacinda Ardern meeting Jack Dorsey in Paris in May in the days leading up to the Christchurch Call summit. Photo / PMO
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will host Twitter boss Jack Dorsey in Wellington next week to continue discussions on how to eliminate terrorist content from social media platforms.
The notoriously quiet and eccentric Dorsey met Ardern for a one-on-one meeting for the first time in Paris in May in the daysleading up to the Christchurch Call summit.
A spokesman for Ardern confirmed that they would meet again on Monday.
"The Prime Minister confirmed she will be having a follow up meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Monday in Wellington," the spokesman said.
"The two met at the Christchurch Call earlier in the year and will be continuing discussions on eliminating terrorist content from social media platforms."
The meeting is timely as Ardern prepares to head to New York in two weeks to attend the United Nations General Assembly and follow up on progress on the Christchurch Call.
The call, a voluntary set of guidelines aimed at eliminating violent extremism and terrorist content from online platforms, has been signed by 17 countries, the European Commission, and eight online platform providers including Twitter.
Twitter is also one of five companies - along with Facebook, Amazon, Google and Microsoft - to commit to a nine-point plan to tackle digital harm.
Their meeting comes after Dorsey's account was hacked last Friday and used to send racist and vulgar tweets to his 4.2 million followers.
The tweets included messages such as "Hitler is innocent".
Twitter suspended accounts that the hacker or hackers retweeted while they had control of Dorsey's account, and temporarily turned off the ability to tweet via text message.
Ardern and Dorsey first spoke on the phone in April as she reached out to tech companies to gather support for the Christchurch Call summit in Paris.
Emails released to the Herald under the Official Information Act showed a hectic schedule as Ardern's staff tried to arrange phone calls with top tech executives, who were constantly travelling.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account was hacked Friday. Photo / AP
Ardern managed to speak to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg on April 17, though Zuckerberg did not make it to the Christchurch Call summit in Paris.
She talked to Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, on May 2, a conversation that Ardern "very much enjoyed", according to an email from a official from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The reply from an Amazon official was just as enthusiastic: "Jeff also really enjoyed the call."
A week and a half earlier, on April 23, Ardern managed to speak with Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, and a day later she phoned Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
That call was set up after Ardern and other Ministers, including David Parker, Andrew Little and Kris Faafoi, had met Microsoft president Brad Smith in Wellington.
After that meeting, an email from the DPMC was sent to Apple saying: "Brad Smith over at Microsoft recommended I reach out to you. The Prime Minister is reaching out to the CEOs of the major digital platforms impacted by the attacks and the content that accompanied them, and would be most appreciative of a conversation with Mr Cook."
Cook and Ardern had already met at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the start of the year, which was alluded to in Apple's reply: "Tim enjoyed very much his meeting with the PM recently at dinner in Davos."
She also earned praise after talking with YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, who emailed Ardern's office after their phone call at the start of May.
"It was an honour to speak with you on the phone earlier this month. I continue to be inspired by your words and actions to drive change in the wake of the tragedy in Christchurch," Wojcicki wrote in an email.
"I look forward to following up with you on this important issue and hope to meet you in person soon. In the meantime, if you ever need anything from me, please do not hesitate to reach out. Both you and New Zealand continue to be in my thoughts."
