New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to members of the media during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (not pictured), following their annual leaders’ meeting, at the Parliamentary Offices of Commonwealth in Sydney, Australia, July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

WELLINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday announced a new research initiative as part of a global project to tackle online hate set up following a massacre perpetrated by a white supremacist in Christchurch in 2019.

Ardern said in a statement that as part of the Christchurch Call initiative, New Zealand, the United States, Twitter (TWTR.N) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) will invest an undisclosed sum in the development of a new technology aimed at helping researchers understand how algorithms affect the user experience.

The initiative’s partners will work together to build and test a set of privacy-enhancing technologies that, once proven, could form the basis of an infrastructure to support independent study of the impacts of algorithms, according to the release.

“This initiative won’t tell us everything we need to know about the results that algorithms drive online, it will help us better access data so researchers can answer those same questions,” the statement said.

The Christchurch appeal was launched by Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron after 51 people were killed at two mosques in the New Zealand city as the gunman live-streamed his rampage on Meta’s Facebook platform (META. O).

A concurrent joint statement from the Christchurch Call said that since a 2021 peak, new industry supporters and partner organizations have joined the initiative, including gaming platform Roblox (RBLX.N), video conferencing site Zoom (6694.T), global community engagement and resilience. Funds and technology against terrorism.

However, many online service providers are staying out of the call, calling some unidentified companies unwilling to meet commitments to join.

Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell

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