New Zealand’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, James Munro, commended Etidal’s analytics methodology used in the monitoring and combating of extremism on various platforms.
Accompanied by Robert Pita Cammock, Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy, and Philip Clark, Second Secretary, Mr. Munro was received by Etidal’s Secretary General Dr. Mansour Alshammari.
Mr. Munro said, “I note that you’ve been very good at your analytics and I think that’s going to be key.” He stressed the importance of counter narratives in order to understand the problem and defeat it. “I’m really impressed by your grasp of the matrix of extremism and I’m sure there would be a lot of interest in my country to engage and understand how we can contribute and how we can learn,” he added.
He stressed the significance of the global efforts to combat extremism, noting that “it’s a global issue, so it needs a global solution.”
Referring to the terrorist attack on two mosques in New Zealand last month, he said that the New Zealand government´s focus is to hold social media providers responsible for making the content published on their platforms safer.
The ambassador, along with the accompanying delegation, reviewed Etidal’s messages about promoting the values of tolerance and coexistence across the world, praising all the efforts being made by the Center.
