A report released Tuesday by the New York Attorney General and state governor Kathy Hochul, Shooting at a Buffalo supermarket last May that killed 10 peopleconcludes that deep web platforms radicalized hitman Payton S. Gendron shortly before carrying out the attack.
The report also concludes that live streaming platforms such as Twitch are used as weapons to advertise and promote violent attacks, and that “these platforms’ lack of oversight, transparency and accountability allow. Extremist and hateful views proliferate online, leading to radicalization and violence“.
Shortly after the massacre, whose victims were mostly black, Attorney General Letitia James It will open an investigation into the social media companies Gendron used to plan, promote and broadcast his attack.
Accused of domestic terrorism and 10 murders, Gendron, 18, left a 180-page manifesto outlining his racist and white supremacist ideas and detailing his plans of attack.
For this report, the Prosecutor’s Office reviewed thousands of pages of websites and other platforms used by the attacker, including 4chan, 8kun, Reddit, Discord, Twitch, and YouTube, and found the graphic content of the footage or Gendron’s manifesto, including Facebook platforms. , Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Rumble.
As part of the investigation analyzed how platforms are used to distribute and promote memes, racist and anti-Semitic messagesand sharing graphic media of previous racially motivated violence.
Prosecutor’s statement How were various major platforms used to broadcast footage to encourage other acts of violence? and how video of that shoot has been circulating on the internet.
In short, the prosecutor stated that the report confirmed that various online platforms played a “definite role” in the attack, “first radicalizing the attacker while consuming large amounts of racist and violent content, helping him prepare for the attack, and finally helping him prepare for the attack.”
Hochul and DA James are now advocating for state and federal reforms, including laws that would criminalize the posting of uncensored images or videos created by a murder perpetrator, and punish anyone who shares or reposts those images or videos.
As part of the reforms they are seeking, they recommend amending the federal Communications Ethics Act to increase accountability of online platforms and ensure they take reasonable steps to “prevent violent and illegal criminal content on their platforms.”