Twitch and Discord have issued statements in response to the recent mass shooting in Buffalo, New York that was broadcasted on Twitch, with details of the shooting posted on Discord in the days leading up to it.
On Saturday, May 14, 2022, tragedy struck in a Buffalo, New York supermarket when an 18-year-old gunman killed at least 10 people.
The mass shooting was broadcasted live on Twitch, and it was quickly revealed that the gunman had a Discord server where he shared plans for the attack in the days leading up to it.
In a report from Eurogamer, Twitch and Discord have issued statements regarding the incident.
Twitch & Discord respond after Buffalo mass shooting
According to Eurogamer, Twitch said that it identified and removed the live stream within two minutes after they found out about the incident. The site also detailed a comment the company made to The New York Times.
“Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against violence of any kind and works swiftly to respond to all incidents,” Twitch said. “The user has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”
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Twitch and Discord have issued statements following the Buffalo mass shooting https://t.co/Aal5FTWBIS
— Eurogamer (@eurogamer) May 16, 2022
As the incident was planned out via a private Discord server, the company also provided a statement. Discord revealed that it is investigating posts made by the gunman, which allegedly include detailed plans for the shooting before it took place.
They added: “We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families, and we will do everything we can to assist law enforcement in the investigation.”
This isn’t the first time a mass shooting has been broadcasted on the Amazon-owned platform. On October 9, 2019, a gunman killed two people inside a German synagogue and multi-streamed it to Twitch and Facebook.
We’ll be sure to update you if any more information is released regarding this incident.