He had unsupervised access to a computer, where he played online games and, at age 14, discovered the online forum 4chan.

He came from a broken home and from a young age was exposed to domestic violence, sickness, and suicide. The Christchurch attacker’s pathway to radicalization was entirely unexceptional, say three experts speaking with WIRED who had reviewed the government report. 'The same algorithms that keep people tuned to the platform and consuming advertising can also promote harmful content once individuals have shown an interest.'

'The problem goes far deeper than the identification and removal of pieces of problematic content,' said a New Zealand government spokesperson over email. Yet according to experts, until social media companies open the lid on their black-box policies and even algorithms, white supremacist propaganda will always be a few clicks away. Over a year later, YouTube and other platforms have taken steps toward accepting responsibility for white supremacist content that propagates on their websites, including removing popular content creators and hiring thousands more moderators. But until now, the details of his involvement with these online far-right organizations were not public. The terrorist’s interest in far-right YouTubers and edgy forums like 8chan is not a revelation. “The individual claimed that he was not a frequent commenter on extreme right-wing sites and that YouTube was, for him, a far more significant source of information and inspiration,” the report says. He also gave directly to Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner. Online radicalization experts speaking with WIRED say that while platforms have cracked down on extremist content since then, the fundamental business models behind top social media sites still play a role in online radicalization.Īccording to the report, released last night, the terrorist regularly watched extremist content online and donated to organizations like the Daily Stormer, a white supremacist site, and Stefan Molyneux’s far-right Freedomain Radio. YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms were instrumental in radicalizing the terrorist who killed 51 worshippers in a March 2019 attack on two New Zealand mosques, according to a new report from the country’s government.

Christchurch shooting video leak