Episode description
Where does the extremist culture that inspired the Christchurch killer come from?
A graphic live-streamed video and a rambling document included clues as to how the Christchurch shooter was radicalised. He used the message board 8chan to announce his attacks, which killed 50 people in the New Zealand city. And throughout his online postings are clues to how connected he was with the online culture of 8chan and a related website, 4chan.
We break down the online networks used by far-right extremists to disseminate their messages under layers of irony and double meaning. And ask questions about the big social media companies, who’ve been criticised for not taking quicker action – both against the live-streamed video of the attacks and more generally against white nationalist propaganda.
Is there anything that can be done online to stop similar attacks in the future?
Presenters: Anisa Subedar and Mike Wendling
Guests: Robert Evans, investigative journalist, Bellingcat Hussein Kesvani, UK editor, MEL magazine Annie Kelly, digital culture researcher, University of East Anglia Issie Lapowsky, senior writer, Wired magazine Ali Soufan, former FBI agent and chief executive officer of The Soufan Group Abdirahim Saeed, BBC Monitoring’s Jihadist Media Team
(Photo Caption: A police officer stands guard inside an Islamic centre in New Zealand during a silence for the victims of the Christchurch attacks / Photo Credit: Getty Images)