Student caught viewing video

A 16yo student caught viewing video footage of the Christchurch mosque shooting has been disciplined, all apparently for a video which was reported as being edited beyond recognition anyway. Incidentally, the Dunedin Mosque video that sparked the incident is still widely circulated by Muslims around the world.

This from stuff.co.nz:
Auckland college student caught viewing illegal video of Christchurch mosque shooting

An Auckland high school student has been through a “disciplinary process” after they were caught illegally viewing the banned video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.

A student from Green Bay High in West Auckland was caught on August 16 watching the video of the terror attack which they accessed through the school’s N4L (Network for Learning) internet network.

“We can confirm that a student recently accessed inappropriate content on the school’s network for a short time,” Green Bay High Principal Fiona Barker told Stuff in a statement.

It remains unclear what disciplinary action was taken against the student after the school “worked closely with the family” and completed an investigation.

“Our school followed our disciplinary processes and worked closely with the family,” said Barker.

“We consider that the resulting outcome was appropriate.”

However, the school chose not to notify police – or the Ministry of Education – despite the video being classed as “objectionable” and its content described as “disturbing and harmful” by the Department of Internal Affairs.

“While we took this very seriously within the school, we were not in contact with the police as we did not feel this action would be in line with the information we had before us,” said Barker.

“We would not have hesitated to contact the police if the circumstances had been different.”

A police spokesperson told Stuff they had since “spoken to the school involved” and are “comfortable with the actions taken in regard to this incident”.

Green Bay High School did contact N4L administrators about the incident.

Network for Learning is a Crown-owned technology company, with the N4L website stating it provides “faster, safer internet” for New Zealand’s schools.

Barker told Stuff the video is no longer able to be viewed through the network.

The school has also conducted an internal review of its internet processes and is reviewing its “existing student internet agreement and cybersafety programmes”.

“As soon as we became aware of this, we contacted N4L to alert them to the situation,” said Barker.

“The school uses the Ministry of Education’s school network [N4L – Network for Learning]. N4L took this incident seriously and the digital content was subsequently blocked and the site flagged.”

The incident has also shocked leaders of the local Islamic community, who remain concerned about how a student was able to access the video, and are upset that the matter was not immediately referred to police.

“That’s a complete breach of the law,” said Aliya Danzeisen, president of The Islamic Women’s Council.

“Schools are obligated to report illegal material. It is very clear, it is well known, and there is no excuse.

“This is a well known document that no one should have. In New Zealand, it’s illegal to possess in any way shape or form, and so the school needs to follow that.”

Danzeisen acknowledges the young age of the student, but believes stronger action was needed.

She also suggested leniency had previously been shown to some offenders prosecuted for either viewing or being in possession of the video.