Twitch and Discord will be investigated by the New York attorney general, for the part they played in the racially-motivated mass shooting in Buffalo.
Attorney general Letitia James announced the investigation last night, in response to the attack which killed 10 people and wounded three more.
The perpetrator livestreamed the attack via Twitch for two minutes before the video was removed. Before the attack took place, he had posted numerous messages discussing and promoting his plans via Discord, as well as on the notorious imageboards 4chan and 8chan. All will now be part of James’ invesitigation.
“The terror attack in Buffalo has once again revealed the depths and danger of the online forums that spread and promote hate,” James said. “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 honor 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 behavior and take action to ensure it never happens again.”
James will investigate “months” of online posts by the perpetrator – and why nothing was done which stopped the attack taking place.
Twitch and Discord both issued statements after the attack and said they would cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
Eurogamer has contacted Twitch and Discord for further comment.
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