Can Section 230 Reforms and a Homicide Video Ban Really Thwart Mass Shooters?

New York Attorney General Letitia James wants to make it a crime to post online videos of people dying.

The Buffalo, New York supermarket shooting that left 10 people dead might have been prevented if those proposals had been made. James said the Buffalo shooter was part of an epidemic of mass shootings carried out by young men radicalized online.

The Attorney General's office released a 49 page report this week about what role social media played in the Buffalo shooting. James says that livestreaming platforms have become a tool of mass shooters to announce their crimes. James thinks that the livestreams of shootings are an extension of the original criminal act. In New Zealand, 51 people were killed in a pair of mosques by a killer who was similar to the one in Buffalo. The shooter chose to use Facebook Live.

The video was removed from twitch in under two minutes, but other platforms took a long time to remove it. James proposed new restrictions on live streaming, including verification requirements for streamers, a restriction on algorithmic promotion of livestreams, and a so-called "tape delay" for users who fail to meet certain trust criteria.

According to the report, the future of livestreaming needs to grapple with how this service has been used to broadcast these acts of terror, becoming an extension of the criminal act, and serving to promote the shooter's ideology.

The report acknowledges that the response times have improved, but it goes on to say that even a few minutes of silence can be used to spread a terrorist's message. Complicating things, alternative "fringe" platforms like 4Chan, which aren't tied to the same straight laced image as twitch, are less inclined to proactively remove this type of extremely violent content.

James would like to change that. In the recommendations section of the report, the AG suggests criminalizing videos of homicides, and adding civil penalties for the distribution and transmission of that content. Penalties for platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to prevent violent criminal content from appearing on the platform are possible. The tech industry's efforts to remove child sexual abuse material is a potential model for how it could stem the tide of extremely violent material.

For all you First Amendment scholars, the report reined in those recommendations a tad. Penalties for videos with historical, educational, or societal benefits should not be issued for videos that are criminalized, according to the AG report. Penalties shouldn't apply to people who are filming something.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is at odds with James' calls to hold tech firms liable for hosting violent comments. It shields firms from being held legally liable for their users uploading content while also allowing them to moderate their platforms as they see fit.

James called on Congress to change Section 230 to hold platforms accountable. The sentiment is shared by a number of lawmakers, including former President Donald Trump. The bedrock of internet policies has long been opposed by a broad coalition of First Amendment scholars.

Creating additional hoops for platforms to jump through in order to maintain their Section 230 protections would almost certainly result in fewer opportunities to share controversial opinions online. Platforms dedicated to niche interests and minority views can thrive.

The report draws a correlation between shootings and social media. James says it's hard to ignore the correlation between recent rises in mass shootings and the "prevalence of online platforms where racist ideology and hate speech flourish."

James said that the shooting in Buffalo exposed the dangers of unmoderated online platforms that have become breeding grounds for white supremacy. Extremist content is flourishing online and we need to work together to protect our children and communities.

Many in the US are frightened by gun violence. More than a third of K-12 parents say they are afraid of a shooting at their child's school, according to a recent survey. Improving mental health screening and treatment would be very or extremely effective at preventing shootings, according to a majority of parents. Adding police officers in schools or banning assault style weapons didn't garner the same amount of support.

Fears of gun violence could be an important factor in the upcoming elections. According to a poll from August, gun policy is the most important issue to vote on.