Neo-nazis conduct a terrorist attack in New Zealand

[robkelk]

This is the internet Facebook, YouTube, Twitter built!

An Australian who murdered dozens of innocent bystanders in New Zealand on Friday livestreamed the deaths on Facebook, spinning a spotlight onto the abject failure of social media to control harmful content.

The 28-year-old shooter, whose name isn't worth publishing, fired on defenseless people attending Friday prayers at a Christchurch mosque, killing 49 and injuring dozens of others.

Here's a certainty: the shooter checked that his Facebook livestream was running and was being broadcast online before he left his car armed with a semi-automatic weapon. If it wasn't working, if his battery had run out, or data had cut out, or connection to Facebook's servers broke, he likely would not have left the car but would have stayed inside tinkering with it until it did work.