(Reuters) -New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday said her office is investigating social media companies the Buffalo grocery store gunman used to plan, promote and stream the attack that left 10 dead.
James in a Tweet said her office will investigate Twitch, 4chan, 8chan and Discord along with other platforms the shooter used to amplify the attack.
“This terror attack again revealed the depths and dangers of these platforms that spread and promote hate without consequence,” she said. “We are doing everything in our power to stop this dangerous behavior now and ensure it never happens again.”
The suspected gunman, Payton Gendron, who surrendered to police on Saturday after the attack, apparently publicized a racist manifesto on the internet and broadcast the attack in real time on social media platform Twitch, a live video service owned by Amazon.com.
Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday said she hopes to strengthen the state’s “Red Flag” law by issuing an order for state police to seek emergency orders to stop individuals from possessing weapons if it is believed they are a threat to themselves or others, the New York Times reported.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien; Editing by Chris Reese and Mark Porter)
