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Documents filed in U.S. court this week show that the chat platform Discord was used extensively by the Tumbler Ridge shooter to plan out the logistics of the deadly attack.
The news comes as fellow tech company OpenAI is already under immense political scrutiny and facing several lawsuits for the role its ChatGPT platform is alleged to have played in helping plan the shooting, which left eight victims dead, the majority of whom were 12 and 13 years old.
The B.C. government is among those suing OpenAI, alleging it should have flagged troubling conversations between its chat agent and the shooter to authorities.
On the campaign trail, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby said his legal team would be reviewing the new information released in the court filings, and again called for stricter federal regulations against all social media and AI companies.
“If you become aware of a conversation between users about causing harm, violence against children … you should have an obligation to report that to police,” he said.
But he also drew a distinction between Discord facilitating a conversation between two individuals, and OpenAI’s product allegedly explicitly providing direction to the shooter.
Retired FBI special agent Dan Brunner also raised the distinction, saying it can be difficult to monitor all conversations between individuals on large social media platforms without crossing important boundaries.
“We become a surveillance state where we’re monitoring all the communications by every user across every social media platform over every device … I think that is a very dangerous slope to be going down,” he said.
Retired FBI special agent Dan Brunner said that asking to monitor communications between individuals on social media platforms can lead to boundaries being crossed. (CBC News)
He also expressed concern about the potential for AI to detect such conversations.
“Where do you draw the line?” he asked, saying it was an important conversation for lawmakers and the public to have.
Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said it would be “premature” for him to weigh in on the matter until after a full investigation concludes.
The federal government is currently working on legislation known as the Safe Social Media Act which it says is aimed at attempting to reduce online harms.
Planning violence against Discord’s terms of service
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced 30-year-old James Cody Bryant had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country, a charge that is punishable by up to life in prison.
Much of the evidence presented against Bryant is based on months-long Discord conversations between Bryant and the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, planning a mass casualty event.
The chats, contained in court filings, included where to carry out the attack, what weapons to use and how Bryant would livestream it on Van Rootselaar’s behalf.
Seven victims of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Clockwise from top left: Abel Mwansa, Ezekiel Schofield, Ticaria Lampert, Zoey Benoit, Jennifer Jacobs, a.k.a. Jennifer Strang, Emmett Jacobs, and Kylie Smith. (RCMP)
According to the filing, Discord identified the accounts in the aftermath of the Tumbler Ridge shooting and shared that information with the FBI.
The platform wrote that the pair’s conversation “included discussions about weapons, theft of ammunition, incendiary device construction, target evaluation, logistics relating to livestreaming the attack, and final day-of coordination.”
Photos of weapons used by Van Rootselaar were also shared on Discord.
Discord’s community guidelines also state that threats of harm and co-ordinating violent acts are against its terms of service, and warns it would report any violations of the law to applicable agencies.
In a written statement, Discord said it “strongly condemns violence” and that it has a “zero-tolerance policy for anyone who supports, promotes, or engages in violent acts.”
It also reiterated that after investigating the accounts linked to Van Rootselaar and Bryant, it proactively disclosed the information to law enforcement and removed the accounts.
“We will continue to work in close [co-ordination] with authorities as the investigation continues,” the statement said, and the company extended its “condolences to the families and to everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
It also said all the conversations were one-to-one, and not in public or group chats.
Unlike some other major companies, much of the activity on Discord takes place in invite-only servers or through direct messages, making it more difficult for authorities to monitor them while amplifying privacy.
Brunner said it was clear illegal action had taken place on Discord and it was “great” the company is working with authorities in the aftermath of the shooting — but he still had questions about the point at which the company should have been expected to intervene.
“Where they talk about guns? Where they talk about violence? Where they talk about previous shooters?” he said.
“It’s a conversation that should be had, but I find it difficult to wrap my head around.”
If you’re affected by this report, you can look for mental health support through resources in your province or territory. Information on specific community support for Tumbler Ridge residents can be found here.
