Halle attack video: Australian regulator threatens to fine two websites hosting violent footage

An Australia authority has threatened to issue multi-million dollar fines to overseas websites unless they remove footage of the German synagogue attack, as another expert warned more action was needed to prevent similar videos from spreading.

Websites could be prosectured for hosting footage of the German terror attack. Picture: Getty Images

An Australian regulator has threatened to prosecute two websites for hosting footage of a German terrorist attack under new powers granted in the wake of the Christchurch massacre. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner issued the take-down notices after footage of a violent attack outside a mosque in the town of Halle, Germany, was streamed to Amazon-owned gaming site Twitch.tv, where it was seen by thousands of users.

But video of the massacre, in which two people were killed and another two were seriously injured, spread to hundreds of thousands of viewers on other social networks yesterday and remained available on the two overseas websites in question.

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner issued take-down notices after footage of a violent attack outside a mosque in Germany, was streamed to Amazon-owned gaming site. Picture: Getty Images

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant issued removal notices to the websites last night under new powers granted in April to prevent the publication of “abhorrent violent material”. The websites will be required to remove the violent content or face prosecution in Australia and fines of up to $2.1 million for an individual or $10.5 million for a corporation.

The powers have yet to be tested, as websites which received notices from the Commission have complied with its orders so far.

Ms Inman Grant said the eSafety Commission had been monitoring the fallout from the Halle attack “closely” after an alleged gunman live-streamed a 35-minute video from the scene to the digital platform Twitch.tv.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant issued removal notices to the websites last night under new powers granted in April to prevent the publication of “abhorrent violent material”.

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The company said 2200 people watched the footage after it appeared on the social network usually host to video game content, and that it was removed after 30 minutes.

“We support the steps taken by Twitch to quickly remove the video and prevent its proliferation on social media platforms by sharing (the video’s signature) with an industry group,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“We are continuing to work closely with industry on protocols to govern the rapid removal of terrorist and extreme violent material in an online crisis event, including blocking websites.” But the video of the Halle attack did spread to other social networks yesterday, including Twitter, where segments of the video were viewed more than 120,000 times.

In this image taken from video made available by ATV-Studio Halle, a man shoots from long-barrelled gun, in Halle, Germany. Picture: AP

Swinburne University social media major director Belinda Barnet said action by social networks and the government had addressed part of the problem, but she warned more coordinated action was needed to prevent similar violent videos from spreading online.

“This is clearly becoming a way for criminals and people with violent intent to broadcast their message,” she said.

“It’s good that Twitch took it down within half an hour but it worries me that 2200 people saw that and did not report it.”

A spokesman for Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the Halle violent video, shared so soon after the Christchurch massacre, showed “the enduring need for social media companies to take responsibility for preventing the weaponisation of their platforms”.

“This latest incident makes it clear that there is still a great deal of work to do,” he said.

“The Australian Government expects Amazon - (a government anti-terrorism taskforce participant) - to provide answers about what happened and solutions as to how they will prevent their technology from being exploited in this way again.”

Originally published as Halle attack video: Australian regulator threatens to fine two websites hosting violent footage