YouTube radicalized the Christchurch shooter, New Zealand report concludes – By Sam Shead (CNBC) / Dec 8 2020
- The Australian terrorist who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch was radicalized by YouTube, according to a report from The New Zealand Royal Commission.
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she plans to talk to YouTube’s leaders about the platform’s role in the mass murder.
- YouTube has been linked to radicalization and white supremacist content before and the Alphabet-owned company has been accused of using algorithms that push viewers toward more polarized content as they use the platform.
The Australian terrorist who killed 51 people during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 was radicalized by YouTube, according to a report from The New Zealand Royal Commission published on Tuesday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she plans to talk to YouTube’s leaders about the platform’s role in the mass murder, which was committed by Brenton Tarrant, according to the Australian Associated Press. Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without parole in August.
“What particularly stood out was the statement that the terrorist made that he was ‘not a frequent commentator on extreme right-wing sites and YouTube was a significant source of information and inspiration’,” Ardern reportedly said. “This is a point I plan to make directly to the leadership of YouTube.”
The authors of the report state that they have “no doubt” the shooter “subscribed to right-wing channels on YouTube.” In one of the sections of the report called “The terrorist,” they write that he viewed content promoting extreme right-wing and ethno-nationalist views on sites like 4chan and 8chan.
“He also spent much time accessing broadly similar material on YouTube,” the authors said. “His exposure to such content may have contributed to his actions on 15 March 2019 — indeed, it is plausible to conclude that it did.”
