New York State wants to shed light on the role of different social platforms and their moderation practices.
The moderation of social networks and community platforms has been a major problem on the Web for several years, and recent news demonstrates it once again.
A racist attack broadcast live on Twitch
On Saturday May 14, 2022, an 18-year-old young man went to a Buffalo supermarket and murdered 10 people with heavy weapons, before being arrested by the police.
The man had broadcast his terrorist action live on the Twitch streaming platform before the signal was cut by the Amazon subsidiary two minutes later. However, this delay was sufficient for many Internet users to retrieve a copy, which is still massively shared on social networks today.
A 180-page online manifesto was also uncovered by investigators. The author of this crime detailed his motivations, and in particular his adherence to the racist theory of the “great replacement”.
The killer explained his plans on Discord and other forums without ever being bothered
The State of New York has just opened an investigation to understand how the author of the killing was able, for months, to discuss his sinister project with other Internet users on Discord, 4chan and 8chan. The killer notably used Discord 30 minutes before the attack began and invited some members to review his plans.
Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading this investigation, said he was ” scary and unfathomable that the man was able to spread and amplify his hate speech without these platforms at any time being able to moderate his remarks. Discord has indicated through one of its spokespersons its intention to cooperate with the investigators.
This case reminds us that the moderation of violent and hateful content remains a problem for platforms which, despite their efforts, seem overwhelmed and unable to stem the phenomenon. Facebook also recently recalled that 21.7 million posts violating its rules of use had been deleted in the first quarter of 2022 alone. The video of the attack was shared on the social network for several hours. by several tens of thousands of accounts before being withdrawn.
On the same subject :
Facebook increasingly violent: the number of deletions has doubled in one year
Source : Engadget
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