As we question the role of ‘the internet’ in mass shootings, we must be clear about what we mean

Analysis: We are in danger of creating yet another moral panic, leading to imprecision and inaction

A mother and daughter lay flowers close to the site of the El Paso shooting (AFP)

In the wake of another set of mass shootings in the US, just about everything that can be blamed has been: from gun control to mental health, racism to violent video games.

But after a number of linked recent killings, scrutiny has focused on the role of the internet and the way it can radicalise the people who use it. That focus has turned to niche places like 8chan – a website that serves as a gathering point for extremists, and where a number of recent killers have posted materials about their massacres, and which was knocked offline in the wake of the weekend’s slaughter – as well as to the various other more mainstream sites that can serve as people’s introduction to those more hidden networks.

The scrutiny of the role of the internet is welcome: it is no doubt changing society in ways that we cannot even contemplate, and are far from fully reckoning with.