New York Attorney General (AG), Letitia James, last night announced that both Twitch and Discord are under investigation.
This comes following a racially-motivated mass shooting – which killed 10 people and wounded 3 more – in Buffalo, New York which was live-streamed by the attacker on Twitch for 2 minutes before the video was taken down.
It was also revealed that before the attack, the assailant discussed his plans to commit the act on Discord, as well as on the notorious imageboards 4chan and 8chan.
James revealed in her announcement that she will be investigating “months” of online posts by the perpetrator – and why nothing was done by the organisations to prevent it.
“The terror attack in Buffalo has once again revealed the depths and danger of the online forums that spread and promote hate,”
“The fact that an individual can post detailed plans to commit such an act of hate without consequence, and then stream it for the world to see is bone-chilling and unfathomable.”
“As we continue to mourn and honour the lives that were stolen, we are taking serious action to investigate these companies for their roles in this attack.”
“Time and time again, we have seen the real-world devastation that is borne of these dangerous and hateful platforms, and we are doing everything in our power to shine a spotlight on this alarming behaviour and take action to ensure it never happens again.”