I am well aware of the dangers of Big Government gaining control of internet regulation, manipulating citizens, and suppressing dissent. It would be a clear breach of giving up our Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, as well as forfeiting one of the last frontiers of freedom the world round.

However, I DO think there is an issue that is being perpetuated through the internet that seriously needs to be addressed...

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_{~Part One can be read --> Here ~}

Let's first look at a tragic news story that unfolded just this weekend. On July 28th, 19-year old Santino William Legan broke into the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California with an AK47-style assault rifle and open-fired on the crowd, injuring dozens and killing three including a 6-year old boy.

Legan posted two photos to his Instagram account which has now been deleted. One was a picture of Smokey the Bear before a "Fire Danger" sign, and included a caption Legan added urging people to read 'Might is Right', an obscure novel from the 1800s that is often glorified by white supremacists.

According to Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism:

"The book, published in 1890, includes discredited principles related to social Darwinism that have been used to justify racism, slavery and colonialism." src

The police were called and within a minute, Legan had been fatally wounded in crossfire. The police also arrested another man and took him into custody after a twitter post linked to his account circulated claiming that he had just shot up the garlic festival. The authorities have now determined the claim to be a hoax.

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If we go back two weeks, an arguably even more gruesome event shares some eerily similar highlights. In the early hours of July 14th, in Utica, NY.. Discord users watched in horror as images of egirl Bianca Devins' mutilated body were uploaded onto the server by incel Brandon Clark.

The two were both spent the majority of time cultivating their lives online. They both had a growing number of followers on social media sites like Instagram, and were active members of Discord and 4chan. Clark had contacted Devins online, but it was unclear what level there relationship was at.. online users refer to him as an incel.. a male that semi-stalks egirls online hoping to earn sexual favors, however police believe they “were boyfriend/girlfriend, whatever kids these days call it.”

A Discord user that knew her well said they had a relationship, but it was strictly platonic.

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On the night of July 13th, Clark picked Devins up to go to a Nicole Dollenganger concert in upstate NY. Devins and Clark supposedly met another guy, and hung out. On the way home Devins sent DMs to a friend on Discord about Clark being “so mad” that she held hands with this person and kissed him at the show. The last message sent by Devins was timestamped 5:47 am.

According to sources, at around 6:40am, Clark posted photos of the murder on his Instagram story, including an extremely graphic and bloody image of the victim sitting in an SUV with her neck cut. He also allegedly posted a photo on a server on Discord, with the caption, “Sorry fuckers, you’re gonna have to find someone else to orbit.” Shortly after posting the images, Clark posted a number of other cryptic videos on his Instagram account including him driving a car down a dark road with the caption: “Here comes hell. It’s redemption, right?” Clark also changed his Instagram bio to read “10/06/1997 – 7/14/19.” src

In a phone interview with Rolling Stone, Lt. Brian Coromato of the Utica Police Department said Utica police received multiple calls at around 7:20 a.m. from concerned 4chan and Discord users who had seen Clark’s posts. Coromato also said they received a call from Clark himself, who “made incriminating statements with respect to the homicide” and “also was alluding the fact that he was going to harm himself,” according to a statement sent from the UPD. When an officer approached him, Clark began stabbing himself in the neck. src

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Instantly forums sprouted up on sites like 4chan circulating the grisly images and lobbing jokes about the photos and blaming Devins for her own murder by flirting with male followers online. Fake accounts sprouted up on Instagram exploiting the horrific incident, claiming they had more pictures and videos they would share of the murder in exchange for likes and followers. The images were left up long enough to spread like wildfire and it's almost certain you can find them online still.

I could go into more details of a long string a events similar to these, The Christchurch Shooting that was live streamed on Facebook telling people to subscribe to PewDiePie, and the fallout of the New Zealand government trying to contain the viral video. Or even further back to the 2014 Isla Vista massacre, and Elliot Rodgers manifesto Youtube video made the day before, which was grabbed by media outlets before the social media platform had a chance to contain it.

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A few things are shockingly similar in all of these instances: 1) The perpetrator (and victims) were young (under 25).. 2) There was real time uploading of horrific images/comments/videos leading up to and during the violent acts.. 2) The websites reaction time to take them down was waay too slow.. and.. 3)A large number of internet users resorted to deranged behavior of rapidly spreading these messages, turning it into some twisted joke, fueling dark obsession, and even some falsely claiming responsibility just to get clicks.

We have been desensitized to a point where images of actual killings is treated like some sort of comic book fantasy.. this is real life and there are real consequences.

The internet, or rather our obsession around it has seemingly created an alternate reality where blood, gore, murder, hate, and extremism is glorified. Deluded individuals think that life is a video game meant to be trolled every waking moment. They forget there is no 'reset' button in this game though..

So what can be done... and what about Freedom of Speech?

Continued...Here