Social media and other companies must be held accountable to report conversations about causing harm after an FBI complaint detailed extensive online conversations involving the Tumbler Ridge shooter as she planned her deadly attack, NDP Leader David Eby said on Wednesday.
The complaint against James Bryant, a resident of Bellingham, Wash., alleges conspiracy to murder as Bryant and killer Jesse Van Rootselaar spent months discussing tactics, locations and weaponry for the attack on the Discord messaging platform before they attempted to livestream the murders on Twitch.
The FBI said Van Rootselaar communicated online with Bryant, even sending photos on the chat website Discord showing what she was wearing for the attack.
The FBI said Van Rootselaar communicated online with Bryant, even sending photos on the chat website Discord showing what she was wearing for the attack.
Heidi Tworek, professor of international history and public policy at the University of B.C., said on Wednesday that the latest developments from the tragedy reveal a "long-standing and broader phenomena of platforms being used for co-ordination of violence."
Mike Harrington, special agent in charge with the FBI in Seattle, told a news conference on Tuesday that Van Rootselaar met Bryant after being "randomly matched" about three years ago on the now-defunct Omegle messaging app.
Van Rootselaar was about 15 at the time, while Bryant was about 27, and the app that enabled conversations with strangers was closed down not long afterwards over lawsuits about child safety.
Eby said government lawyers will be looking at the Bryant complaint and legal obligations to report wrongdoing need to be placed on tech companies "because they will not and have not done the right thing."
The B.C. government is already suing artificial intelligence firm OpenAI over its alleged role in helping Van Rootselaar plan the Feb. 10 attack that claimed the lives of eight victims, including six children.
-News97.ca with files from The Canadian Press
Add comment
Comments