AG calls for reforms of online platforms after Buffalo mass shooting

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The state attorney general just released a report into the role of online platforms in the Buffalo mass shooting.

Attorney General Tish James and her office reviewed thousands of pages of documents and social media content. The report found fringe online platforms, like 4 chan, radicalized the shooter, and livestreaming platforms, like twitch, were weaponized to publicize and encourage copycat violent attacks. Also, a lack of oversight of these platforms allowed hateful and extremist views to proliferate online.

Ten people died when police say Payton Gendron opened fire at a Tops store in Buffalo in May and targeted black people.           

James is calling for federal and state reforms, including state legislation that would criminalize graphic images or videos created by a perpetrator of a homicide, and penalize those who reshare or repost it.