March 15 survivors retraumatised by link to Buffalo attack livestream video
Monday, 16 May 2022
Survivors of the Christchurch mosque attack were sent graphic videos of the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York – likely from a white supremacist supporter of the atrocities.
At least three survivors, still nursing varying bullet injuries from the March 15 attack in Aotearoa three years ago, have been retraumatised by an “unknown Facebook person” sharing TikTok footage of the attack that killed 10 people and injured three in a supermarket on Sunday (New Zealand time).
A member of the March 15 community, who was too scared to be named, believed they were targeted by a supporter of the terrorism attacks, as one video combined footage from both.
TikTok has condemned the behaviour, saying it has zero tolerance for extremist content, and “stands alongside” Christchurch’s survivors.
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The prime minister’s Christchurch Call co-ordinator says there is “no tolerance” for sharing such hateful ideology and content, particularly to retraumatise survivors of the attack in Aotearoa.
The link, sent by an “unknown Facebook person” via Messenger directly after the shooting, took them to videos posted by two TikTok accounts.
It was “awful” and retraumatising for the March 15 attack survivors, they said.
The videos have since been removed*.
The Facebook user who shared the link has since been blocked and appeared as a Facebook account with no name, they said.
Acting Chief Censor Rupert Ablett-Hampson announced on Monday that the video and the manifesto of the Buffalo shooter was now illegal. Twitch, where the video was streamed, says it was pulled from the site within two minutes.
A TikTok spokesperson said they were aware of “concerning reports that New Zealanders have seen and reported extremist content on our platform and we are actively monitoring the situation”, but the base content did not originate on TikTok.
The platform had “no higher priority than protecting the safety of our community”, and its guidelines made clear the zero tolerance to extremist content.
“We do not allow people to use our platform to threaten or incite violence, or to promote violent extremist organisations, individuals, or acts.
“TikTok stands alongside the victims of the Christchurch shooting and the broader New Zealand community in condemning this appalling behaviour.”
Paul Ash, the prime minister's special representative on cyber and digital and Christchurch Call co-ordinator at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, was not aware the video had been shared on TikTok or to March 15 survivors.
Seeing the video would “obviously be very distressing to them”.
He “strongly encouraged” people not to engage with the now illegal content, and to contact police, Netsafe, and the platform they saw it on.
“There is no place for that kind of hateful ideology online … or it being used to further traumatise victims of March 15.”
TikTok was neither a member of the Christchurch Call, or the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), he said.
GIFCT, which was improved in direct response to the Christchurch attack and had 16 new platform members, quickly activated its “content incident protocol” when the Buffalo attack appeared online.
While it was too early to know how many times the video had been viewed and shared, it was not able to go “viral” as the livestream on March 15, 2019, which was seen by more than 4 million people.
However, The New York times reported the Buffalo video circulated widely on other platforms, including more than three million times on Streamable before it was removed, and with links to the video shared on Facebook and Twitter.*
The Christchurch Call team checked on the survivor community quickly after the Buffalo shooting due to mention of the New Zealand attack in the American shooter’s manifesto, Ash said.
The work carried out under the Christchurch Call “seems to have made a measurable difference this time around”.
But there was “still a power of work to be done, both online and offline, getting to the bottom of how and why people do this in the first place”.
The Tiktok spokesperson said it was in ongoing conversations with GIFCT and aimed to join the extra monitoring efforts
A police spokesperson said they were aware that objectionable material relating to the shooting in Buffalo, New York, was circulating online.
As it was now unlawful to share or possess the video or manifesto, police would investigate and might lay charges for anyone who does.
“If you accidentally come across this objectionable material, delete it immediately.”
* CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story claimed TikTok had failed to act on a request to remove a video showing footage from the Buffalo terror attack. This is denied by TikTok which can find no record of the complaint. (May 17, 7.10pm)
**This line has been added to the original story (8.30am May 17)