Twitch Details Response to Buffalo Shooter Streaming on Platform
Twitch released a statement this week with details of its response to the live-streaming via its platform of the racist mass shooting that took place in Buffalo, New York on Saturday.
The shooting in question saw a gunman enter a supermarket and kill 10 people before surrendering to police. A manifesto widely publicized after the attack and that he authored revealed racism as a central motivation in the attack, and he streamed the attack via Twitch.
The hate crime that happened in Buffalo was an atrocity. Such violent racism has no place on Twitch, or anywhere in our society. More about what happened and our response: https://t.co/inKsRGA1mN
— Emmett Shear (@eshear) May 16, 2022
Twitch says it identified and removed the broadcast within two of the violence beginning, and permanently banned the user immediately. It's also working to stop the footage from spreading on Twitch by removing accounts and content rebroadcasting footage of the incident.
The platform is also working with law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Ne York Police Department's Cyber Intelligence Unit, providing them with access to any information they need for their investigation.
"We take our responsibility to protect our community extremely seriously, and trust and safety is a major area of investment," Twitch said in its statement.
This isn't the first time a racist shooter has used Twitch to broadcast their killing. In 2019, a white supremacist live-streamed himself opening fire at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand — one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country's history. An anti-Semitic shooter did the same in Halle, Germany later that year.
"As we've shared in the past, live content moderation presents unique challenges, and we are continuously evaluating our policies, processes, and products to keep our community safe," Twitch said in this week's statement. "We'll be examining this incident carefully and sharing those learnings with our peers in the industry to support a safer internet overall."
"Our hearts go out to all those affected by this hate crime — the victims, their loved ones, the greater Buffalo community, and the Black community everywhere who are victimized by acts of white supremacy and racism."