SALVAGING FLAWED DISCOURSES SURROUNDING NZ’S ‘COUNTER-TERRORISM LEGISLATION BILL’

Abstract

Public-facing announcements from Labour minister Kris Faafoi and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern around the ‘Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill’ that that was introduced to Parliament on the 13th of April 2021 has included a number of flawed discourses that risk making the legislation less effective. The current focus on ‘lone actors’ speaks to a misunderstanding of online community dynamics within the hate-groups that motivate terror attacks. Additionally, there is little attention either in the foundational document for the ‘Christchurch Call to Action Summit’ or the discussions surrounding the ‘Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill’ of the ways that online economies drive the expansion of extremist groups and raise the odds of terrorist actions. This article will explore the background to these issues, what makes the current discursive framing from the government around the legislation problematic, and what initiatives could be concretely taken to mitigate these issues.