New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced that, following the tragic shooting in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 people dead, her office would be investigating social media sites like Discord and Twitch for their monitoring of content shared by the shooter. Primarily used by gamers, Discord and Twitch were both used by the attacker to post racist messages describing his plans.
Despite being popular spaces for gamers around the world to connect, platforms like Twitch and Discord have become intertwined with controversy over the years. Many Twitch streamers, particularly women, have accused the platform of not being strict enough in enforcing its guidelines on harassment. Beyond dealing with serious issues including misogyny, bullying, and racism in the Twitch chat, many streamers have seen this extending to the real world, with many content creators harassed by people in real life. Some have even said they needed to resort to measures as serious as moving home after dealing with stalkers who had their real-life locations. But now, both Twitch and Discord are facing an investigation into their practices.
As reported by Polygon, following the Buffalo shooting, AG Letitia James announced that several social media sites – 4chan, 8chan, Discord, and Twitch – would be investigated after evidence arose that the shooter had made posts on those sites regarding his plans to commit the shooting. The shooter also streamed the massacre on Twitch, although Twitch has since taken down the video, stating that it acted within two minutes of the stream ending. In the statement, James said that the investigation was spurred by the platforms’ inaction, noting:
“[t]he 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.”
While threats made on platforms like Twitch and Discord can have real-world consequences for those posting them, this doesn’t seem to deter as many as it should, and it’s the companies themselves that have a responsibility to create a safe space for communities. Gaming as an industry has faced accusations of toxic and illegal behavior from many observers, and companies should be doing whatever possible to ensure the safety of its users. As James has stated, it seems very possible that, in this case, the platforms could have done more.
Despite the need for action, there will be many users of both Twitch and Discord that will be rightfully wary of any government intervention or potential censorship across social media platforms. At the time of writing, James has not provided any additional clarity as to what the goal of the investigation will be, or how it might impact communities moving forward. While Twitch and Discord must protect users, it’s unclear if the investigation means the platforms will roll out new changes following its conclusion.
