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Home / New Zealand

Owner of notorious 8chan internet site in bid to deflect blame for role in Christchurch mosque terror attacks

Kurt Bayer
By Kurt Bayer
South Island Head of News·NZ Herald·
10 Apr, 2019 03:07 AM4 mins to read

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that a Royal Commission of Inquiry will be held into the Christchurch mosque terror attack.

The owner of an internet site where the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman revealed his intentions hours before carrying them out has denied any responsibility for blame on the devastating terror attacks.

The alleged killer of 50 Muslims at two Christchurch mosques posted his plans on the extreme online message board 8chan earlier on March 15, along with his so-called "manifesto", and calls for members to spread his message.

He also reportedly linked to a Facebook livestream which broadcast the shootings.

8chan, which is known as one of the darkest corners on the internet and extreme advocates of free speech, has been heavily criticised, along with other internet sites and social media channels, in the wake of the shooting.

But its owner, Jim Watkins, has released a statement to deny suggestions that the online forum or other social media platforms should be held responsible or censored following New Zealand's worst-ever terror attack.

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Watkins, an American who also owns 2channel and NT Technologies, claims that New Zealand police could not have reacted to the alleged murderer's intentions "without resorting to Orwellian police tactics".

"All they had to find him was a solitary post on a bulletin board with a link to a Facebook livestream moments before his terrifying and gruesome act of senseless violence," Watkins said.

"This is not the fault of NT Technology for providing the medium to announce his livestream. This is not the fault of Facebook to allow for allowing his live-action footage to stream as it happened. These are just tools that millions of people use daily."

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He added: "There are no Tom Cruises out there with psychic assistance to stop someone from committing a crime before they commit it."

Watkins said NT Technology is co-operating with official investigations into the alleged killer's online activities and warned that threats of imminent violence are not protected speech.

"They are criminal in nature," he said.

"There is a certain dualism in this, whereas you're free to utter reprehensible and violent speech, yet you are responsible for the consequences of what you say.

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"An announcement of an upcoming murder, giving a time and a place, or maybe even the target, is criminal. It is not protected speech and anyone who utters such things should expect to be arrested."

The Chief Censor's office in New Zealand has classified the shooter's live stream and so-called manifesto as objectionable under the Films, Video and Publications Classifications Act. The charges have a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison and apply from the moment the material was released, not the point it was banned by the Chief Censor.

8chan founder Fredrick Brennan, who is no longer associated with the site, earlier said he believed the administrators were too slow in removing the post.

Brennan told the Wall Street Journal that he found the days after the shooting difficult, knowing that he had created the website.

He said 8chan and the toxic culture within it would likely result in another mass shooting.

"It wouldn't surprise me if this happens again," he said.

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Another controversial American site, kiwifarms.net has been contacted by New Zealand Police after a number of posts and links relating to the shooting and the alleged gunman.

However, Kiwi Farms founder Joshua Moon responded to a detective's approach for information with an obscenity-laden email, labelling New Zealand "a small, irrelevant island nation" and "s***hole country".

"Is this a joke? I'm not turning over information about my users," Moon wrote in an exchange he later published online.

"The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself."

The alleged gunman, a 28-year-old Australian man, faces 50 murder charges and 39 attempted murder charges.

Police have said other charges are still under consideration.

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The accused has been remanded in custody and is due to reappear in court on June 14.

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