New York Attorney General Letitia James has decided to launch an investigation into social media companies in connection with the Buffalo shooting, her office announced Wednesday.
The investigation will look into social media companies and other online resources the alleged shooter may have used to discuss his intentions to carry out the attack which left 10 people dead and three injured, Ms James said in a statement. .
Investigations will focus on platforms such as Twitch, 4chan, 8chan and Discord that may have been used to broadcast, promote or plan the attack.
“The Buffalo terrorist attack has once again exposed the depth and danger of online forums that spread and encourage hate,” Ms. James said.
“The fact that an individual could publish detailed plans to commit such an inconsequential act of hate and then broadcast them to the world is chilling and unfathomable,” she added.
The alleged shooter posted real-time footage of the attack on Twitch, the Amazon-owned live-streaming platform that often features live video game footage.
Twitch told The New York Times on Sunday that it successfully took down the live stream within two minutes of its launch.
However, the videos of the shooting have been viewed millions of times, in part because it remains easy to re-upload copies of the videos across multiple platforms.
On Saturday, a heavily armed 18-year-old white man shot dead ten people and injured three others at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. According to US authorities, the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and racially motivated act of violent extremism.