New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday that her office has launched an investigation into Twitch, Discord, 4chan, 8kun (formerly 8chan) and other online and social media platforms in response to a racist attack in Buffalo, N.Y.
The investigation is understood to focus on “platforms that may have been used to stream, promote or plan the event”.
James focused his attention on the platform the gunman used to discuss and amplify the attack. The gunman reportedly planned his attack on a private Discord server before the shooting. The gunman said in a document he wrote that he used and was influenced by 4chan and 8chan, two sites are known for their lack of moderation.
“As we continue to mourn and commemorate the lives stolen, we are taking serious action to investigate the role of these companies in this attack,” James said in a statement.
My office is launching investigations into the social media companies that the Buffalo shooter used to plan, promote, and stream his terror attack.
We are investigating Twitch, 4chan, 8chan, and Discord, among others, all platforms that the shooter used to amplify this attack.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) May 18, 2022
A white supremacist gunman killed 10 people and wounded three in an attack on a black neighborhood on Saturday. He streamed the entire attack on Twitch and later shared it on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms — even as those networks worked to remove it.
A Discord spokesman said the company would cooperate with the investigation. The spokesman, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject, noted that the shooting suspect’s Discord server was confidential and was not shared with a “small group” of people until about 30 minutes before the attack. “We are continuing to do everything we can to assist law enforcement and the investigation is still ongoing,” the spokesman said.