Live broadcasts and shared videos of mass shootings again raise questions about social networks' responsibilities in curbing violent and hateful content

Gunmen say they are influenced by online screeds and broadcasts of past shootings. Do social media sites have a responsibility to rein in hateful and violent content?

New York Times 2022-05-16

Discussion

@eoinhiggins_ @eoinhiggins_ on x
Facebook finds that video of Buffalo massacre doesn't violate standards. I can confirm the video is still being shared and has over 1.8m views. It's graphic. https://twitter.com/...
@donie @donie on x
Platforms seem to be struggling with the sheer volume of people trying to share the Buffalo video. Oddly, saw this on Facebook - a link to the video that Facebook's systems have identified as going against its community standards, but still allows people click through https://twi…
@elisestefanik Elise Stefanik on x
Very saddened to hear the tragic news of fellow NYers in Buffalo. We are praying for the entire community and law enforcement at this time. 🙏
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
Been hitting refresh all day waiting for Elon's take on the Buffalo shooter's manifesto and video being shared on Twitter. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
As the investigation proceeds, I think the big tech focus is going to be on Discord, where the shooter was apparently documenting his plans for some months. It's hard to even know what to recommend, there. Bots that flag vague posts about doing something “for the last time”?
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
There are improvements on these issues, in other words. But there are also new problems; people are much more adept at (ab)using the gaps between platforms to aid distribution - posting videos on TikTok that direct users to the actual content hosted on Twitter, for instance
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
Feels important to note that, contra Christchurch, Twitch's response time over the Buffalo shooting was 2 minutes, not the 17 Facebook took three years ago; and the video is almost totally scrubbed from YouTube with re-uploads not appearing in search https://www.theguardian.com/ …
@cbsnewyork @cbsnewyork on x
Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling on social media companies to do more when it comes to monitoring their content in the wake of a deadly mass shooting in Buffalo that was live-streamed by the alleged gunman. @ThaliaPerezTV reports. https://www.cbsnews.com/...
@waveringshark @waveringshark on x
@chan_ducky @EoinHiggins_ Its facebook. Ive seen videos of graphic torture scenes being shown to young teenagers, and nothing happened when I reported it. Wouldnt be surprised if there was CP and sex trafficking rings going on there. Thing is, facebook is aware and subtely promot…
@muslimadvocates @muslimadvocates on x
Video of the Christchurch massacre spread on Facebook and we called them out repeatedly to stop this from happening again. Now it's happening again. Facebook's willful failures mean that communities of color keep experiencing trauma. https://twitter.com/...
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
A big problem lay in technical details, the companies couldn't agree on how to document the videos across YouTube/Facebook/Twitter, etc. Slightly different versions of the same video slipped through their systems. Years later, this problem hasn't been solved.
@curlysquare @curlysquare on x
social media companies like facebook and twitter have their hands dirtied in blood again and again each time a mass shooter commits domestic terrorism with hate in mind. they did this. the misinformation machine chewed up and spat out a murderer that killed 10 in buffalo today.
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
@GIFCT_official There are two main arguments: keep these videos online vs. remove them as quickly as possible. Most extremism researchers push for the latter. The racist said in his rant that streaming the video would help “increase coverage and spread my beliefs” https://twitter…
@brianfishman Brian Fishman on x
I don't know how viral the Buffalo video is or whether it is being shaped adversarially by supporters of the shooter, as was the case after Christchurch. These are things to watch for. 5/n
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Facebook. 9 hours. 1/3 https://twitter.com/...
@chadloder Chad Loder on x
Texas's new social media censorship law makes it illegal for Facebook to take down the video of the Buffalo shooting. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
It's been more than three years since Christchurch. Major social platforms have still not figured out how to stop the spread of videos glorifying senseless killings that violate their terms of service. Latest w/ @Kellen_Browning. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
It would have been a great time to reshare his take on how censorship is bad, free speech is good and only illegal content should ever be moderated. Obviously content moderation is so trivially easy, he can share how Twitter should be handling it now.
@kellen_browning Kellen Browning on x
Twitch took down a livestream of yesterday's shooting in Buffalo in 2 minutes. It was still shared widely on FB, Twitter and elsewhere. One upload had more than 3 million views. What more can be done? Story w/@RMac18 on the role social platforms play: https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
It's hard to be this unprepared for something you've claimed to be working on for three years. 3/3 https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Twitter. After press inquired. 2/3 https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
That specific link spread for at least 9 hours on Facebook. Some users who flagged it were told it was not a violation of the platform's terms of service, though posts with the link are now being taken down. A Facebook spox now says that the video does violate FB's rules.
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Not going to share screenshots, but the rate at which versions of the Buffalo video continue to proliferate on Facebook and Twitter is astonishing. We've been here before with Christchurch and it continues to happen.
@taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x
Meanwhile on TikTok ppl are posting videos pushing viewers to watch the video on Twitter. There are TikToks showing the clip of him in the car before going in and TikToks that share search terms/usernames of Twitter accts posting the full video. Clear the vid is all over Twitter …
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
So, it's quite likely that Twitch removing this channel violates Texas' new social media content moderation law, which is now in effect. Just to give you a sense of how messed up the law is. https://twitter.com/...
@drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
The Buffalo shooting video is circulating online. One copy has more than 2 million views. Someone linked to it 10 hours ago on Facebook; it now has 500 comments, 46,000 shares and is still online. The original Twitch stream had 22 viewers. The video is never going away.
@rashadrobinson Rashad Robinson on x
Twitch took down the livestream of yesterday's white supremacist shooting in Buffalo in under 2 minutes. Meanwhile, the video is now on Facebook with 1.8 million views — and they're not removing it because it 'doesn't violate their terms of service.' https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
One version I tracked used a screenrecorder to capture the Twitch stream and then post to a video sharing site. The link to that site has then spread across Facebook and Twitter by dozens of accounts. On FB that link has generated 43k interactions, according to CrowdTangle.
@kellen_browning Kellen Browning on x
Twitch, the livestreaming platform, confirms that the shooter who killed 10 people at a New York grocery story today streamed the attack live on its site. Says it has taken the channel offline and is monitoring for people rebroadcasting it. More updates: https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@hasanthehun @hasanthehun on x
at first i thought twitch let the video ride, but their moderation was actually on point. this was a random acc that only went live once before to test how to go live, went live w 20+ people watching and twitch took it down in almost a minute. compare that to fb. https://twitter.…
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
New from me: I tried to write about the Buffalo suspect's manifesto responsibly and comprehensively here. The story has some details. In short, the manifesto is a rant from a 4chan addict, obsessed with “the Great Replacement,” CRT and white grievance. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@quatoria @quatoria on x
Very few “gaming culture” sites, discords, or reddits take any kind of a hard line stance against white supremacist ideals, memes, and talking points. Usually they are played off as “jokes” or people are “warned” and allowed to continuously reoffend.
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
just eternally grim that parts of this kind of video footage can just end up embedded into platforms/ become grist for content the same way that anything else is decontextualized & sliced up/remixed etc. that it could be just another thing the algo serves up is deeply upsetting
@kazweida @kazweida on x
I guess this is the free speech Republicans want. Live-streaming mass murder and genocide. https://twitter.com/...
@raycondones Bruce Ray on x
Sending Prayers to Buffalo Twitch needs to shut down for the whole day shits lame as fuck
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
Let's note that the Buffalo mass shooter cites the March, 2019 shooting in Christchurch as inspiration, and has managed to make his own gruesome video go viral on social media largely because still, three years later, social media companies have not figured this out. (Thread).
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
From the new Texas law to Elon Musk's proposed “free speech” version of Twitter, it's worth wondering how an incident like the Buffalo shooting would play out in the future on major US-based social platforms. https://twitter.com/...
@sewpheeyuh @sewpheeyuh on x
facebook only cares about hits & capital — no regard for the people who are consistently scarred or desensitized from viewing these things on the regular. we're just commodities for them to exploit. https://twitter.com/...
@romeisnotokay @romeisnotokay on x
The fact that Twitch didn't immediately come out with a statement denouncing the events in Buffalo, especially since this isn't the first time a tragedy like this has happened LIVE on their platform, is unacceptable. This is yet another reminder that Twitch doesn't care about us.
@eoinhiggins_ @eoinhiggins_ on x
Video is down now https://twitter.com/...
@chadloder Chad Loder on x
The Buffalo shooter appears to have been openly planning this mass shooting for several months on Discord. Those of us who monitor white supremacist Discord and Telegram channels will not be surprised. There's a lot of this stuff on there. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
It's gone from a Twitch livestream that was reportedly up for less than 2 minutes, to a rapidly spreading hydra of versions of live recording videos. It's spreading through bad actors, morbid human curiosity, and the inability of platforms to keep up.
@questauthority Mike Dunford on x
Yes, provided Twitch is over the user count. https://twitter.com/...
@shambamtymaam @shambamtymaam on x
So Twitch still hasn't said anything about.. ANYTHING?! https://twitter.com/...
@secretgamergrrl @secretgamergrrl on x
I legitimately can't recall the last time I poked my head into the official discord for a given game (or bit of game creation software) and didn't see a ton of nazi symbols in avatars/reaction images. Twitch's most popular emote is the face of a nazi who heavily attacked a friend…
@anildash @anildash on x
This is the “free speech” they want. https://twitter.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
many people paying attention after christchurch figured that this viral, live-streamed white supremacist mass shootings would become part of the playbook and it is so upsetting that it keeps happening and that platforms don't have a way to keep it from spreading in different ways…
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
On Twitter the link was tweeted 123 times leading to 722 interactions, according to CrowdTangle. It continues to spread now. Twitter also allowed for the video to be uploaded directly to its platform. I've seen a version with a warning overlay. No response yet from Twitter PR.
@lucidfoxx @lucidfoxx on x
Losing my mind that people are mad at Twitch right now. The platform deserves a ton of criticism, but they snapped this account up incredibly quick. Do people want Twitch working with law enforcement to vet potential threats to be even access the site? Not sure how you stop this.…
@bobbyallyn Bobby Allyn on x
New: Twitch spokesperson confirms the Buffalo shooter live-streamed the incident on the platform. Company says user has been suspended and that it is taking “all appropriate action” to prevent it from being rebroadcast. https://twitter.com/...
@charlesadler Charles Adler on x
Few journalists as committed as Ben Collins @oneunderscore__ to the study of disinformation and its connection to extremism. Yesterday's (May 14, 2022) massacre in Buffalo, the latest manifestation of White Supremacism. 4 Chan is an image board/hate site. https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
Just to drive this point home, in the run up to the law passing, an amendment was proposed making it clear that sites could still take down “domestic terrorist” content. And the Republicans rejected it. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@xpatriciah Patricia Hernandez on x
if the screenshots floating around are true, it is buck fucking wild that discord did not catch this ahead of time given the level of detail being shared in the plans (or that it didn't get foiled, somehow, period) https://twitter.com/...
@vahn16 Nathan Grayson on x
while it's not confirmed, it seems like the shooter posted plans on discord well ahead of today. twitch also did not catch the shooter until after the damage was done. clearly, something needs to change https://twitter.com/...
@kotaku @kotaku on x
Discord says it is investigating posts related to the mass shooting that occurred in Buffalo, New York on Saturday: https://kotaku.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@bpdalerts @bpdalerts on x
BREAKING: BPD on scene of a mass shooting at the Tops in the 1200 block of Jefferson Avenue. Police say multiple people have been struck by gunfire. The shooter is in custody. Motorists and residents are urged to avoid the area.
@ghosted_sound @ghosted_sound on x
We have politicians who use kremlin, known far-right & Q-anon extremist rheteric. We see them in the media use it, make threats against the “opposition”, with little to no consequences. This is part, of what emboldens domestic terrorism. Hate speech. https://twitter.com/...
@kellen_browning Kellen Browning on x
Update: Twitch says it removed the video within 2 minutes of the violence starting. Meanwhile, Discord, where the shooter allegedly posted a to-do list and other messages, says it is working with law enforcement to investigate. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@iwriteok Robert Evans on x
A manifesto has been published on /pol, credibly claiming to be written by the guy who carried out this attack. It's a standard fascist “white genocide” rant, filled with 4channy in-jokes, ala the Christchurch shooter. Most obviously he gives Sam Hyde's picture as his own. https:…
@bobbyallyn Bobby Allyn on x
In a document circulating online that appears to be the shooter's manifesto, he wrote that he chose Twitch because it's free for anyone, even people without accounts, unlike FB, he writes, and he cited the 2019 Halle Synagogue Shooting, which was also broadcast on Twitch.

Chronicles

Live broadcasts and shared videos of mass shootings again raise questions about social networks' responsibilities in curbing violent and hateful content

Related Coverage

Discussion