Footage of the Christchurch mass shooting has been freely circulating on Twitter since Elon Musk took over, suggesting the platform’s previous measures stopping the spread of known terrorist content are no longer operating.
On Monday afternoon, a clipped version of the shooter’s livestream was removed by Twitter after accruing more than 150,000 views over two days. The short video, which was posted with the caption “how to end the paris riots in under 24 hours”, had been retweeted hundreds of times. The account that posted the video has been suspended.
The video had been repeatedly reported to Twitter using its in-platform tools and to the Australian eSafety commissioner before it was removed, the eSafety commissioner’s office confirmed.
This marks at least the third reported time since Musk took over Twitter that the social media platform had failed to detect and remove the shooting video, once in November and once last month.
In 2019, an Australian white supremacist livestreamed himself carrying out a mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques, killing 51 people and injuring 40 more. A recording of the killer’s Facebook livestream and his meme-filled manifesto spread widely online after the attack.
The fallout of the attack prompted criticism of the tech companies that had amplified the shooter’s content. Facebook removed 1.5 million uploads of the video in the 24 hours after the attack. Two months after the shooting, then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern convened representatives from tech companies (including Twitter) and countries at the Christchurch Call summit to commit to policies to stamp out terrorist and violent extremist material spreading online.
Part of this included a commitment to take steps to prevent terrorist material from being uploaded by developing automated systems that recognise and block known content like the Christchurch shooter’s video.
Anonymous anti-fascist research group White Rose Society, which reported the video to the company and the eSafety commissioner, said it was concerned there was nothing to prevent Twitter from being used to spread footage of a future neo-Nazi mass shooting if its automated systems no longer operate.
“We saw with the Allen, Texas, mall shooting that graphic footage of dead people, including children, spread widely on Twitter without users searching for it,” the group said in a message to Crikey. “A genocide could be incited on Twitter (e.g. Myanmar) and there’s no one home at Trust & Safety.”
An inquiry to Twitter’s press inbox returned its customary auto-reply poop emoji.
The billionaire hypocrite isn’t even smart enough to understand that follower collecting at any price has consequences.
It’s not only Musk who prompts the old saying – “If you’re so rich, how come you ain’t smart?”
Across the board Twitter is now platforming any far right, RWNJ’ery, nativism etc. via the Home Page ‘For You’, while doing everything possible to bury, hide and disappear anything centrist; on track to be banned in EU…….
He’s very smart, but not smart enough to realise he’s out of his depth here.
Obviously, just like Musk, I hate to generalise. But the ancient song keeps coming back:
I once got served in Woolies after less than four weeks’ wait,
I had lunch with Rowan Atkinson when he paid and wasn’t late,
I know a public swimming bath where they don’t piss in the pool,
I know a guy who got a job straight after leaving school,
I’ve met a normal merman, and a fairly modest German –
But I’ve never met a nice South African…
Offensive. Try substituting “Italian”, “Iranian,” “Indian”or “Israeli” and see how that feels.
Are you of English or Boer descent??
Keeping in mind the invasion of Australia didn;t begin until the South Africans had said “We are full”
Lekker
Elon Musk is a dangerous Alt-Right poster boy for the racist, sexist nutcases.
I think it’s more of an outrage that Australia supports the same militia organisations in Ukraine that the Christchurch killer also supported.
While the Christchurch killer also supported talking points and eugenics tropes used in Australia against refugees, immigrants, diversity etc. claiming ‘The Great Replacement’.
indeed
I actually couldn’t give a fig for the Christchurch shooters opinion on anything.
It might be worthwhile to step back a smidgen on the increasing prevalence, and demands from whomever, for the purging of historical records.
Anyone with a memory longer than 5mins will find that many facts they know and/or remember from personal experience are now altered or simply no longer available from many sources such as wiki or via google.
Those who think it won’t affect their comfortable aestivation should recall this site’s reprehensible propensity for expunging inconvenient facts from its archives.
The watchword for the future, if allowed, will be Martin Niemöller’s short epigram.
Because They will come for you, sooner than imagined in the worst fever dreams – Nigel Farage has recently had his bank accounts of 40yrs cancelled and has, to date, been turned down by seven major British banks when trying to establish new ones.
Standard Conservative Persecution Syndrome.
If actually true, Occam’s Razor would suggest that Farage has some exceptionally dodgy financials either going on, or gone on in the past, that have been recently uncovered.
LOL @ the suggestion the British banking system wouldn’t deal with a rich bloke for any reason other than obvious illegality.
The same happened last year to Toby Young of the Free School movement, the Canadian truckers AND their supporters.
The EU has published draft legislation equating digital currency with cash to allow for the transfer of government payments (dole/pension etc) as a precursor to UBI.
Anyone who does not think that will be abused might be interested in a bridge I have for sale.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “It would be a serious concern if financial services were being denied to those exercising the right to lawful free speech.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/03/banks-accused-of-closing-accounts-such-as-nigel-farages-on-political-grounds
Perhaps come back when there is some evidence that’s what actually happening ?
See Grauniad reports above & below.
You mean the one titled “Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account closed due to lack of funds” ?
Ain’t nobody so desperate to be a victim as a rich old white dude.
Just not rich enough?
“The same”.
[citation needed]
Of course the same person of the Free School, Free Speech Union etc. whose ‘Daily Sceptic’, along with outlet he is published in ‘Spiked Online’, are all Koch Network linked; obsessions with free speech, Covid/climate science denial, anti-woke, anti LGBT, anti-education and anti-empowered citizens.
We are left trusting Farage’s word while no official statements have been made?
Sensible inference suggests there were allegedly unusual cross border transactions occurring….. that’s why accounts were shut down, but Anglo right wing media and influencers including Farage make it out to be some human rights issues against the elites and the establishment; typical Orwellian doublespeak….. making themselves the victim.
“The Guardian understands the decision to close Farage’s account was linked to the fact that Coutts – which has served every member of the royal family since George IV – requires customers to hold at least £3m in savings, or borrow or invest at least £1m with the bank…the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, who said it should be “completely unacceptable” for banks to close accounts on “political grounds”. Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, also urged regulators to take action against banks that shut off access to people with controversial views.The Treasury confirmed on Monday that it was already reviewing whether banks were blacklisting customers with controversial political views.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/04/nigel-farage-coutts-bank-account-closed-lack-of-funds
Now we know, I suppose to be fair he was always complaining about how skint he was. Hwoever, he made no effort to inform the public that it was an issue of account balance thresholds, not a conspiracy of the ‘establishment’ or the ‘elites’ 🙂
We should be vigilant against unnecessary censorship. I’m not sure, however, what the value is of letting the Christchurch shooter’s livestream spread freely on social media networks. The vast majority of people agree there are limits on speech (not yelling fire in a crowded theatre etc.). We can have sophisticated discussions about where the limits are.
When you say, “The vast majority of people agree that there are limits on speech”, what percentage of people would agree with that? And what are the limits on speech to which they would agree?
A reporter making unsupported assertions is not a good look!
“We can have sophisticated discussions about where the limits are.”
Not from the denizens of the bunker, if past performance is any indication.
Major FAILS, over & over.
Anyone remember an unperson, name of Guy Rundle?