Buffalo attack sparks NY AG investigation into Twitch and Discord

Letitia James of New York announced Wednesday that her office would investigate various social media sites and platforms as a result of the attack on Buffalo this weekend. James stated that two platforms, Twitch, and Discord are frequently linked to gaming. However, the investigation will also focus on 4chan and 8chan.

On Saturday in Buffalo, New York, Payton Gendron, 18, opened fire on a packed supermarket killing 10 and injuring three more. Gendron, a white man, had written messages on social media, which included those the attorney general is currently investigating. He claimed that his attack was racist. Gendron was a white man who noted that the targeted area had a high number of Black residents.

Gendron was also live streaming the attack on Twitch, although his livestream and channel weren’t taken down until the aftermath of the attack. A Twitch spokesperson stated that the footage was taken down within 2 minutes.

“The terror attack in Buffalo has once again revealed the depths and danger of the online forums that spread and promote hate,” Attorney General Letitia James said in her official announcement of the investigation. “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. We continue to remember and mourn the loss of lives. Therefore, we will be taking steps to probe these companies. 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.”

It’s unclear what James means when she calls the platforms themselves “dangerous.” It’s similarly unclear what exactly this investigation might entail. While the press release states that it seeks to investigate platforms that the shooter used to “plan, promote, and stream” the attack, there are no explicit details about the upcoming investigation, or indications that it will relate to their moderation or reporting policies. The press release does not indicate whether future attacks will be prevented or just the analysis of platforms.

Polygon has reached out to James’ office for additional details and will update this story with any response.

Reports claim that Gendron utilized several platforms in his planning for the attack. Gendron watched, allegedly, the New Zealand attack on a mosque in New Zealand in 2020 (that was streamed live on Facebook). He also mentioned that he was watching a shooting in Halle, Germany in 2019, which was also streamed via Twitch. Gendron wrote, allegedly about his attack plan on Discord. He later encouraged people to follow his channel to see his plans. Gendron was reportedly involved in Discord groups or channels, where he had posted racist messages.

In a statement to the New York Times, Twitch said, “Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against violence of any kind and works swiftly to respond to all incidents. The user has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”

In a statement to CNN, a Discord spokesperson said that it had removed the server that Gendron used and related content “as soon as” it was aware of it after the shooting. “Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families,” a spokesperson said. “Hate has no place on Discord and we are committed to combatting violence and extremism.”