New Zealand PM Takes Stance to Deny White Supremacist a Platform for his Racial Views

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden has taken a hard stance to deny the white supremacist, accused of killing 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, a platform to channel his racial views. The accused dismissed his lawyer and opted to represent himself at trial.

Arden said they have to do what they can to prevent the notoriety that the 'accused' seeks. "He obviously had a range of reasons for committing this atrocious terrorist attack, Lifting his profile was one of them. And that's something that we can absolutely deny him." The PM said the accused will 'face the full force of the law' in New Zealand.

The accused has absolutely been clear about his 'desire for infamy'. Firstly, he left behind a 74-page 'hate manifesto' and livestreamed the footage of his terror attack at the Al Noor mosque on Facebook. Arden has expressed her outage with Facebook for failing to remove the video. She said the video remained online, four days after the attack. "Its our view that it cannot, should not be distributed, available, able to be viewed. It is horrendous and while they have given us those assurances, ultimately the responsibility does sit with them."

Meanwhile, the NZ Prime Minister has been in talks with other leaders around the world, reiterating the importance of a global effort to clamp down on the distribution of such material. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also urged the world leaders to crack down on social media companies that broadcast attacks.