Google, YouTube and their parent Alphabet are being sued together with Reddit in a pair of lawsuits for allegedly promoting “extreme and harmful” content that enabled a gunman to kill 10 black people in a hate-motivated mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, last yr.
“Through the usage of YouTube, Reddit and other sites, the shooter gained the mindset, knowledge and motivation he needed to commit his racist attack,” said one among the suits filed in Latest York State Supreme Court in Erie County on Tuesday that was brought on behalf of Wayne Jones, the son of victim Celestine Chaney.
Celestine, who was killed while shopping for strawberry shortcake ingredients together with her older sister, was one among 10 victims who were shot dead by then-18-year-old gunman Payton Gendron on May 14, 2022.
On the day of the massacre, the avowed white supremacist — who was heavily armed and wearing tactical gear — entered Tops Friendly Market and allegedly began firing at black shoppers and employees, authorities said, motivated by his racist beliefs in a conspiracy theory called “the Great Substitute.”
Every victim who Gendron killed was black. Three were injured, of which two were white.
![YouTube, Reddit and Google are among the social media sites being sued for allegedly promoting "extreme and harmful" content that enabled Payton Gendron to kill 10 black people in a hate-motivated mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, last year.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000023440088.jpg?w=1024)
![One of the lawsuits was filed on behalf of Wayne Jones (left), the son of victim Celestine Chaney, who was killed while shopping for strawberry shortcake ingredients with her older sister (right).](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000023465241.jpg?w=1024)
One other lawsuit — which was filed in State Supreme Court in Erie County on behalf of victims’ families and 16 Tops staffers working on the supermarket on the day of the shooting — allege that Gendron wouldn’t have develop into a believer of “the Great Substitute” if it weren’t for social media sites like YouTube, Reddit and Google.
The court papers, which were obtained by The Post, say that these platforms’ “unsupervised algorithms [that] systematically promote indignant, violent and extremist content because that content has been shown to maximise user consumption of and engagement with content.”
Due to Gendron’s “near-constant use of social media,” he was fed “an unending supply [of] extreme and harmful content” that made him “a believer in the racist conspiracy theory called ‘the Great Substitute.’”
Ideologies promoted by the conspiracy theory were apparent in Gendron’s chilling writings, including a 180-page manifesto that he’d allegedly posted online prior to the attack.
The recent court filings — which were filed by Everytown Law on behalf of the victims — pointed to 1 twisted note that read: “Humanity will stop to develop if the white race is eliminated. …I’ll perform an attack on the replacers.”
In line with “Great Substitute” believers, “replacers” are non-white individuals who migrate to white countries “in order to usher in a ‘white genocide’ that can destroy European race and culture,” the suits say.
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000021889652-1.jpg?w=1024)
José Castañeda, a spokesperson for YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, told The Post: “Now we have the deepest sympathies for the victims and families of the horrific attack at Tops food market in Buffalo last yr. Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams and policies to discover and take away extremist content. We recurrently work with law enforcement, other platforms and civil society to share intelligence and best practices.”
Representatives for Reddit didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
When The Post reached out to Everytown Law — the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund — for comment, the firm pointed to a press release issued Wednesday on the court filings, where Everytown Executive Director Eric Tirschwell claimed social media companied “addicted and radicalized the shooter and helped him learn perform his racist massacre.”
Each complaints also mention gun shop RMA Armament, where the teenager bought his body armor from, gun dealer Vintage Firearms and the gunman’s parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron, as defendants.
![Gendron took to YouTube to teach himself how to operate the AR-15 gun he purchased at Vintage Firearms, the court papers claim.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000023465209.jpg?w=614)
The court papers claim that a Reddit thread called “r/Tactical Gear” helped Gendron learn operate the tactical gear he bought at RMA Armament, while he took to YouTube for tutorials on operate the AR-15 gun he purchased at Vintage Firearms.
The subreddit that allegedly enabled Gendron to execute the mass shooting remains to be lively on the platform, with posts from as recent as Thursday asking for tips about which shooting gloves to purchase.
The Post has reached out to RMA Armament and Vintage Firearms for comment.
Gendron’s parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron, are also defendants on each lawsuits for “failing to take any meaningful motion” to stop the shooting, resembling monitoring their teen son’s gun possessions or the “unhealthy period of time” he was spending on social media.
“The shooter’s parents could and will have prevented this tragedy,” the court documents say.
![Gendron, now 19, pleaded guilty to charges that included murder and domestic terrorism and was sentenced to life in prison. He could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted of federal hate crime charges.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000023465212.jpg?w=768)
![Gendron's parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron, are also defendants on both lawsuits for](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000023465213.jpg?w=540)
Gendron, now 19, pleaded guilty to charges that included murder and domestic terrorism last November and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in February.
He’s still facing federal hate crime charges that, if found guilty, could allow US Justice Department officials to contemplate the death penalty.
The plaintiffs in the complementary lawsuits are requesting economic and non-economic damages, which incorporates compensation for changes in victims’ lives that should not financial, resembling the “acute fear, severe distress and the associated physiological effects of being traumatized” listed in the suits.
If YouTube, Reddit, Google and the opposite defendants were found guilty, the sum of the damages they might must pay could be determined at a trial.