New York attorney general Letitia James announced on Wednesday local time that her office has launched investigations into twitch, discord, 4chan, 8kun (formerly 8chan) and other networks and social media platforms in response to racist attacks in Buffalo, New York**
It is reported that the focus of the investigation is "the platform that may be used for streaming media, publicity or planning the event".
James focused on the platform the gunmen used to discuss and amplify the attack. It is reported that the gunman planned his attack on a private server in discord before the shooting. In a document written by the gunman, he mentioned that he used 4chan and 8chan, two websites known for their lack of restraint, and was affected by them.
"As we continue to mourn and commemorate the stolen lives, we are taking serious action to investigate the role of these companies in this attack," James said in a statement
On Saturday, a white supremacist gunman killed 10 people and injured three others in an attack on a black community. He played the whole attack on Twitter and later shared it on twitter, Facebook and other platforms - even though these networks are trying to delete it.
A discord spokesman said the company would cooperate with the investigation. The spokesman declined to be named because of the sensitive subject. He pointed out that the discord server of the shooting suspect was confidential and was not shared with a "small group" until about 30 minutes before the attack. The spokesman said: "we are continuing to make every effort to assist the law enforcement authorities, and the investigation is still ongoing."