The Christchurch Principles: Countering online hate with online democracy

This unprecedented horror shocked the world, yet did not surprise it. The live-streamed attack was intentionally designed to be broadcast on social media, in order to appeal to a far right white supremacist audience. The genesis of the project we plan to present at the Paris Peace Forum 2019, was our desire to contribute to a national and international effort to ensure that social media becomes less destructive to democracy, and to society in general.

We seek to develop a set of principles, inspired by democratic theory, which social media companies, civil society and government can draw on when deciding what social media governance should look like. We believe that the internet should be a place of equal participation. That is, internet users should be able to, in an ideal world, participate in social media as equals, which includes the public sphere as it exists online and offline. Where equality of participation is impeded, whether by regulation or by platform design, a correction or redress is required.