Social media companies thwarted spread of latest terror livestream

This was published 7 months ago

Social media companies thwarted spread of latest terror livestream

The eSafety Commissioner has praised social media companies for thwarting the spread of a terror attack livestream, the first such incident since Australia introduced stringent new livestreaming laws following the Christchurch terrorist attack.

A gunman allegedly killed two people in an attack on a synagogue in the German city of Halle on Wednesday. The attack was livestreamed to Amazon-owned gaming site Twitch.

In the 35-minute video the alleged gunman said he was a Holocaust denier and blamed feminism for declining birth rates and immigration.

"We have been in contact with Twitch to understand the steps taken to prevent the proliferation of the material, including removing the video and sharing the hash with an industry group," e-Safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.


"So far, the protocols taken by social media companies to thwart the spread of this material appear to be working effectively."

The praise comes as the commissioner issued two notices to "fringe" overseas websites hosting the livestreamed video, warning them that if they did not remove the content they could face prosecution in Australia.

The Germany attack was the first high-profile livestreamed terror incident since Australia introduced tough new laws imposing criminal sanctions on social media companies who do not quickly remove "abhorrent" livestreamed content.

The law also requires social media platforms to notify the Australian Federal Police if they become aware of abhorrent content being livestreamed, or be fined up to $840,000.

Attorney-General Christian Porter rushed the law through Parliament two weeks after 51 people were killed in a livestreamed terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Twitch said the latest recorded attack was taken down 30 minutes after the livestream ended and was viewed by approximately 2200 people.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Paul Fletcher called on Amazon to explain how the livestream stayed online as long as it did.

"The Australian government expects Amazon ... to provide answers about what happened, and solutions as to how they will prevent their technology from being exploited in this way," the spokesman said.

According to one analysis, the livestream was shared with 15,000 accounts on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app popular with the far-right.


"Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously," the company said in a statement. "We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act."

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism looked to improve communication within the industry for incidents such as the Christchurch attack, setting up formal communication channels in an effort to speed up response times.

A spokesman for Facebook said the site had was working to remove uploads of the alleged shooter's video from appearing on Facebook and Instagram.

A Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism spokesman said its members were working closely together to shut down the video.

Twitch was brought into the spotlight late last year after Australian Luke Munday, 26, was charged for allegedly domestically assaulting his partner while livestreaming a game of Fortnite.

Most Viewed in Politics