Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with the Axios AM and PM newsletters. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to the Axios Closer newsletter for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter.
Sign up for Axios Pro Rata
Dive into the world of dealmakers across VC, PE and M&A with Axios Pro Rata. Delivered daily to your inbox by Dan Primack and Kia Kokalitcheva.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with the Axios Sports newsletter. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Des Moines newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Want a daily digest of the top Nashville news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Nashville newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Columbus news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Columbus newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Dallas news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Dallas newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Austin news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Austin newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Atlanta news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Atlanta newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Philadelphia news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Philadelphia newsletter.
Want a daily digest of the top Chicago news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios Chicago newsletter.
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
Want a daily digest of the top DC news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with the Axios DC newsletter.
The New Zealand national flag is flown at half-mast. Photo: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images
49 people are dead in New Zealand, a month after an American Coast Guard lieutenant was arrested for plotting a domestic terror attack and 5 months after 11 were killed by a Neo-Nazi in Pittsburgh.
Why it matters: The world has a white supremacy problem, radicalized online and fueled by tech platforms that have proved unable to prevent themselves from being used as hosts for first-person shooter videos and manifestos.
Driving the news: The shooter identified himself via his manifesto as a 28-year-old white supremacist and Australian, per the Associated Press, and said he aimed "to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims."
Details via Axios tech editor Scott Rosenberg:
- The shooter's 17-minute Facebook Live video, shot from a head-mounted camera, appears to have been taken down soon after it was posted, but versions of it continued to crop up on YouTube and Twitter for hours afterwards, often autoplaying on visitors' screens.
- The video's perspective put viewers in the shooter's shoes in the manner of a first-person shooter game, but with the sickening awareness that it was a real document of the murder of at least 49 people.
- The killer's manifesto referenced white-supremacist memes and themes that have long circulated in far-right discussion spaces.
What they're saying:
- The whole operation seemed to have been "engineered for maximum virality," as Charlie Warzel put it in The New York Times.
- The New Zealand killer's media tactics represent a kind of white-supremacist mirror image of the approach ISIS crafted to spread its cause, NBC's Ben Collins pointed out.
- Peter Kafka in Recode: "The platforms... did exactly what they’re designed to do: allow humans to share whatever they want, whenever they want, to as many people as they want."
The big picture: These terrorists are increasingly targeting places of worship.
- 2012: White supremacist kills 6 at Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin
- 2015: White supremacist kills 9 at historic black Christian church in Charleston
- 2017: White supremacist kills 6 at Islamic mosque in Quebec City
- 2018: White supremacist kills 11 at Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh
- 2019: White supremacist kills 49 at Islamic mosque in Christchurch
The bottom line: President Trump today, on whether he sees white supremacy on the rise...
- “I don't really, I think it’s a small group of people.”