TECH TALK

NY Governor Says Social Media Companies Need New Algorithms After Buffalo Shooting

Governor Hochul called on social media companies to establish a “trigger system” that would notify authorities of violent content posted to platforms.

In response to Saturday’s mass shooting, New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed that social media companies establish an algorithm that notifies authorities of concerning content posted to their platforms, referring to the recommendation as a “trigger system. Prior to the shooting, a 180-page manifesto was posted online in which the author identifies himself as Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old suspect. In the document, the author refers to himself as a white supremacist, details conspiracy theories, and outlines plans for the shooting. Hochul said that the trigger system could activate when users upload such “manifesto-type materials” that detail plans to kill others and told NPR that she is “watching to make sure the leaders of these social media companies are going to take responsibility and do much more to do monitoring themselves of content that is placed on their platforms before it is spread.” She expanded on the subject at a press conference, saying that social media companies “have a lot of resources, so don’t tell me they can’t afford it.”