Dozens of videos praising Christchurch attack found on TikTok on 4-year anniversary

ISD’s rapid investigation on terrorist content on TikTok, done in light of the 4-year anniversary of Christchurch massacre, was shared exclusively with VICE News. Our researchers very quickly uncovered 53 pieces of content glorifying the attack on the mosques, including footage from the livestream of the attack, and accounts openly using a picture of the attacker as their profile image. Those accounts unsurprisingly also had content praising other white supremacists, further amplifying propaganda meant to inspire others on a platform that is easily accesible by young people. The dangers behind content from Christchurch has been seen multiple times, often cited by individuals who have committed their own attacks.

“Content that glorifies mass violence and the individuals who commit atrocities in furtherance of ideological goals is a pillar of the propaganda playbook deployed within racially motivated violent extremist communities online and is often distributed with stated or apparent hopes of inspiring the next would-be killer in waiting,” warns report authors, Ciaran O’Connor and Melanie Smith.

The full investigation is available here.