Buffalo Shooter ‘Radicalized’ By Social Media Sites, NY Attorney General Says

Topline

The white gunman charged with killing 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in May was “radicalized” by “fringe” social media site 4chan and live-streaming platform Twitch, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a report Tuesday that argues a lack of oversight on the sites allowed “hateful and extremist views to proliferate.”

Key Facts

An investigative report into the May 14 shooting at the Tops grocery store in a historically Black neighborhood in Buffalo says the attack was motivated by white supremacist ideology, and argues it was not an isolated event, but part of an “epidemic of mass shootings” that are often carried out by young men “radicalized online by an ideology of hate.”

The report said Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old charged in the attack, had viewed “voluminous amounts” of racist, violent and antisemitic social media posts, primarily on anonymous imageboard site 4chan, while Discord and Twitch allowed him to broadcast it (the broadcast was removed within two minutes, although the report states “two minutes is still too much”).

According to James’ report, Gendron kept an online journal on Discord laying out “hateful” beliefs and plans for the attack for the public to see, and he also posted graphic content and portions of a racist manifesto on 11 online sites, including 4chan, 8kun, Reddit, Discord, Rumble, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.

James pushed online platforms to take further action to block “unlawful violent criminal content,” and suggested changing state law to criminalize “graphic” posts shared by homicide shooters and penalize people who repost them.

James also proposed reforming Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act—which shields online social media platforms from civil lawsuits for most third-party content—by putting the burden on online platforms to establish its policies are “reasonably designed to address unlawful content.”

Crucial Quote

“The tragic shooting in Buffalo exposed the real dangers of unmoderated online platforms that have become breeding grounds for white supremacy,” James said.

Contra

Large platforms like Facebook and Twitter have imposed policies to target hate speech and violent content, though policymakers have often pushed them to act more stringently, and 4chan has largely sidestepped issues around hate speech and graphic content on the site. The New York report acknowledged that the First Amendment doesn’t have an exemption for hate speech, but it argues “we can no longer rely entirely on the industry to regulate itself through voluntary commitments.” 4chan, Discord and Twitch did not respond to an inquiry from Forbes.

Tangent

Section 230 has drawn controversy in the past, with some members of both parties pushing for it to be modified or repealed: Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to take up two cases to determine whether tech companies can be held liable in civil lawsuits for extremist content. Google, however, argues recommendations on the site are protected by Section 230—an argument on which district and appeals courts have agreed with.

Key Background

Gendron pleaded not guilty in federal court in July after being charged with 26 counts of hate crimes, attempt to kill and use of a firearm to murder. Prosecutors argue he carried out the attack to “prevent Black people from replacing white people”—the central component of the white suppremacist “great replacement theory”—and to “inspire others” to commit similar racist attacks. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who launched another investigation into the attack, called it an “act of racially-motivated violent extremism.” The shooting rekindled a national debate over both gun control and racial justice, with President Joe saying “hate will not prevail” in a speech in Buffalo after the attack. Other culprits in previous attacks, however, were similarly radicalized by racist, islamaphobic, antisemitic and homophobic content on social media, the New York report states, including the gunman who killed 51 at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, as well as the shooter who killed 23 at a Walmart in El Paso who said his intention was to kill Hispanic people.

Further Reading

Buffalo Shooting Suspect Made ‘Generalized Threat’ At School Last Year, Police Say (Forbes)

Alleged Buffalo Shooter Indicted For Domestic Terrorism (Forbes)

Buffalo mass shooting suspect ‘radicalized’ by fringe social media: NY attorney general (ABC News)