Twitch And Discord Under Investigation

Following the terrible Buffalo supermarket shooting on May 14th, the internet activity of the 18-year-old suspect was highlighted. 

Surprisingly, the gunman allegedly planned and displayed the attack on several social media channels. Between November and May 14, the suspect allegedly outlined his preparations hundreds of times on a Discord server, where he used the phrases “gun,” “attack,” and “shoot” hundreds of times. 

Unsurprisingly, this sparked backlash against Discord, with many claiming the social media platform has a responsibility to identify and respond to such statements.

The shooting was also livestreamed on Twitch to roughly 20 people, according to CNN. The majority of the viewers were most likely from Discord, as the shooter publicized his Twitch channel on several public Discord servers before to the attack.  

Although Twitch was quick to shut down the stream, with the attack lasting only two minutes, many have claimed that such horrible crimes should not have been allowed to be aired on the platform. Removing the stream has no effect on the video’s dissemination. Members on a number of unmoderated sites, including 4chan and 8chan, took it upon themselves to guarantee the video remained online. 

Twitch and Discord have issued statements in response to the attack, condemning the shooter’s conduct and promising to help with law authorities in the future. Twitch and Discord, among other social media platforms, are now being examined for their possible involvement in the attack.