James’ investigation believes that the streaming and messaging platforms had a role to play in promoting the shooter and the hateful motivations behind the attack. Notably, the shooting was streamed live on Twitch for two minutes before the video was taken down. However, it is believed by James that the ability for a shooter to stream their act of violence is “bone-chilling” and “unfathomable.” While 4chan and 8chan were where the shooter discussed their plans for the attack, he had promoted his plans via Discord too, leading James to dive deep into the social media of the shooter and reveal “the depths and danger of the online forums that spread and promote hate.”

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Allegedly, the shooter was able to plan their attack on 4chan, 8chan, and Discord for months without any prior investigation. Both Discord and Twitch have stated that they will support the investigations of law enforcement agencies. It is currently unknown how long the investigation into Twitch and Discord will last, but it seems that James wishes to ensure that by the end of her findings there are significant preventative measures to stop something like this from happening in the future.

It seems that despite Twitch’s goals to increase moderation on its content and ban users more effectively for breaching its guidelines, there is still work to be done. Social media and messaging platforms such as Discord appear to be the primary target for James’ investigation, as they led to the publication of a 180-page document that was posted by the shooter, outlining their extremist beliefs and hateful motivations.

Platforms typically associated with gaming have often been perceived as places where hate can thrive. However, in recent times video game companies have taken major steps to ensure that the content on their platforms is heavily moderated. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, for example, has stated on multiple occasions that Xbox is not a place for free speech. Sony, too, has been looking into removing trolls, toxic, and hateful players from its online community for years.

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