New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed on Tuesday to never speak the name of the alleged gunman behind the terror attack that targeted two mosques in Christchurch, leaving 50 people dead.
“He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety — that is why you will never hear me mention his name,” Ardern said while addressing the nation’s Parliament, according to The Washington Post.
She also asked other members of Parliament to do the same.
{mosads}”I implore you: Speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them,” Ardern said, according to the Post. “He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing, not even his name.”
“He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.”
Observers have pointed to a manifesto believed to have been written by the alleged gunman that was sent to Ardern’s office prior to Friday’s terror attack and livestreamed footage of part of the massacre as evidence the attacker sought attention.
Within the first 24 hours of the attack on Friday, Facebook said it removed nearly 1.5 million clips containing footage of the attack, according to NBC News.
The prime minister expressed frustration on Tuesday after footage of the attack was found online days after the massacre.
“We cannot simply sit back and accept that these platforms just exist and that what is said on them is not the responsibility of the place where they are published,” Ardern said, according to the Post.
“They are the publisher, not just the postman. There cannot be a case of all profit, no responsibility,” she added.