German synagogue shooting was streamed on Twitch

Olivia Richman Published 09/10/2019

There has been another synagogue shooting and this time, it was livestreamed on Twitch. 

The 35-minute long shot on October 9 follows the shooter as he kills two people outside of a synagogue in the eastern German city, Halle. Several others were injured. 

“We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took place in Germany today, and our deepest condolences go out to all those affected,” a representatitve from Twitch stated. 

They went on to detail Twitch’s zero-tolerance policy against “hateful conduct” and “any act of violence” 

The Twitch spokesperson stated that the streaming platform is “working with urgency” to not only remove the content but permanently suspend any accounts found to be reposting the shooting video themselves. 

Twitch has taken the video down, but copies of the footage still exist elsewhere on the internet. 

According to local media reports, the “heavily armed” gunman killed two people before trying to force his way into the temple, presumably to continue the attack while worshippers inside celebrated Yom Kippur. The Saxony-Anhalt citizen had shot a citizen near a Jewish cemetery and then a kebab bistro customer before heading to the temple. 

Before committing the act, the 27-year-old said on stream that “the root of all problems are the Jews.” 

For this reason, the attack is being called an anti-Semitic hate crime with far-right motives. 

This is unfortunately not the first time that live streaming has been used for similar attacks. The Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting, which resulted in 50 deaths, was live streamed on Facebook in March. The social media platform had to remove 1.5 million videos of the attack within 24 hours.

The battle to quickly and effectively moderate the content posted to social media platforms is an ongoing battle that doesn’t seem to be close to ending.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile

Read Also

Twitch

Twitch Is Testing An AI Stream Coach — Here’s How It Works Khizar Mundia Amazon-backed livestreaming platform Twitch is testing a new feature that will act as an AI coach for streamers, giving them personalized feedback to improve. Twitch has been playing around with several experimental features to improve things for its users. One of these includes auto clips, which was a feature that would automatically generate clips from the best moments of a stream. Another is AI-generated summaries of what happened in a ...

Twitch

Kai Cenat Talks Streamer University, Vivet, and Streaming Future Khizar Mundia Kai Cenat recently sat down with The New York Times for an interview. In a wide-ranging discussion, the Twitch streamer talked about what he looks for in Streamer University participants, and also delved into both his Vivet brand, as well as what the future holds. Kai Cenat may have gone on a break following his massively successful Mafiathon 3, but the creator returned with with a bang in Streamer University ...

League of Legends

Riot Games eyes Polymarket and Kalshi for esports sponsorships Michael Hassall Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends and VALORANT is reportedly exploring the protentional of sponsorship deals with prediction market operators including Polymarket and Kalshi, as per reports emerging late last night (Sep. 10). First reported by Cecilia D’Anastasio of Bloomberg, Riot has started conversations with the two top prediction market operators, Kalshi and Polymarket, with a view to one or both of them becoming sponsors within Riot Games’ ...

Slots

This Is How Gates of Olympus 2500 Builds On The Iconic Series Ian John Since the first Gates of Olympus slot hit casinos in 2021, the series has evolved into one of the most recognisable in the Pragmatic Play stable. The combination of scatter wins, tumbling symbols and dramatic multipliers has established a formula that has been followed in a number of sequels and spin-offs. The latest in that series is the Gates of Olympus 2500 slot, but this game takes a slightly more ...

Dota 2

ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel Michael Hassall South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...

News

Rams vs 49ers Preview — Who Will Win? Zachary Roberts The Los Angeles Rams open the season as Super Bowl favorites. Their first test? The division rival San Francisco 49ers. This game obviously has huge implications in what was the strongest division in football last year, sending three teams with 12 wins to the playoffs and hosting both NFC finalists. So, who's going to win? The Rams and 49ers face off tonight in the second game of the NFL season. ...

Twitch

iShowSpeed Livestreams Apple Keynote and Meets New CEO John Ternus Khizar Mundia Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. became one of the first non-tech streamers to livestream an Apple event, appearing alongside the company's CEO at the keynote despite initial speculation from fans that he was using a green screen instead of physically being there. Speed has consistently blurred the lines between a streamer and mainstream celebrity in 2026. He collaborated with FIFA on a game and then performed at the World Cup closing ...