Christchurch massacre: shooter’s mystery upload

Before the alleged rampage, the accused mass murderer posted files onto a secure cloud storage site founded by Kim Dotcom.

MEGA, the secure cloud storage site, hosted two mystery files uploaded by the alleged Christchurch shooter. Picture: istock

Before going on his alleged shooting rampage, accused mass murderer Brenton Tarrant posted two mystery files onto the secure NZ cloud storage and file sharing site MEGA that was founded by controversial internet millionaire Kim Dotcom.

MEGA, which boasts it has special end-to-end encryption that prevents even its own staff from knowing what users are posting, has confirmed the uploads but says no one can view the files because Tarrant did not provide the encryption key.

It has also emerged that an anti-Semitic Europe based website promoting similar ideology to Tarrant’s beliefs had been linking to an unrelated MEGA account showing Tarrant’s video.

The European site which featured Tarrant’s manifesto has been using giant US payment system Paypal to facilitate donations to the site’s operator.

The scenarios illustrate how Tarrant was able to take maximum advantage of encrypted online platforms to spread his vile rants and how others have been able to profit from the content.

Contacted by The Australian for comment on Monday both MEGA and Paypal immediately took action in relation to the accounts.

Shortly after The Australian alerted MEGA to the link to the video account, it was shut down.

MEGA chairman Stephan Hall told The Australian that Mega had already disabled 42 accounts that had tried to show the video since Friday.

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom. Picture: AFP

He said that MEGA had also been alerted by Twitter to the fact Tarrant himself had set up two accounts with MEGA prior to the shooting.

Mr Hall said the company had then immediately shut down the Tarrant accounts which were both free.

Mr Hall said police had been alerted to the situation but no one could view the files because Tarrant had not provided the encryption key to unlock the files.

“They are probably two versions of the (Tarrant) manifesto,’’ said Mr Hall speaking by phone from New Zealand.

Mr Hall said MEGA had zero tolerance for violent extremism.

“The users who uploaded such material were all using the free accounts. MEGA has no desire to profit from the tragedy,’’ he said.

“Links to any objectionable material relating to the Christchurch shooting are immediately disabled, the user’s account is closed and details are provided to the authorities.”

MEGA advertises its cloud storage and file sharing service as being “different to other cloud storage providers” as “your data is encrypted and decrypted by client devices only and never by us”.

The Australian on Monday established that a notorious anti-Semitic Europe based website promoting and publishing Tarrant’s manifesto and similar ideology, was running a link to a MEGA account that featured Tarrant’s shooting video. The Australian has chosen not to name the site.

The French language site which featured extensive anti-Semitic and pro Nazi literature, was also using United States payment service Paypal to seek donations — in a link that was positioned below the Tarrant’s manifesto. The Australian has chosen not to name the site to avoid giving it publicity.

After being contacted by The Australian on Monday Paypal said it was investigating the matter.

“Due to privacy law, we cannot comment on the details of any specific customer account. PayPal is committed to review accounts that have been flagged to us for possible breaches of our acceptable use policy, and will take action with account holders who are found to violate our policies.

“We have invested strongly in this effort and have dedicated teams and processes in place to help ensure users of our platform adhere to our acceptable use policy. Due to privacy laws, we cannot provide specific information on current or former accounts.”

On Tuesday, the Paypal account was closed.

MEGA was set up in NZ by controversial entrepreneur Kim Dotcom who took up residence in the country in 2010 and has been fighting extradition to the United States over an unrelated website he established in 2005 called Megaupload which was alleged to have facilitated industrial scale online piracy. Mr Dotcom has denied any wrongdoing.

In 2013 he established the storage and file sharing site MEGA but severed all ties in 2015 and has since criticised the site. When it launched it was reported to have a million members.