Millions of people helped New Zealand mass murderer go viral

A common refrain after the horrible mass murder of 50 Muslims in New Zealand was to criticize Facebook and YouTube for failing to block the killer’s video from spreading online. While that’s a valid point, I have a bigger question. Why did millions of people repost this bloody video?
According to CBS, Facebook said it deleted 1.5 million videos of the shooting in the first 24 hours after the attack, which was posted in real time on Facebook Live by the killer. It prevented 1.2 million videos from being uploaded.
YouTube hasn’t said how many times the New Zealand massacre video was posted there, but it’s been struggling to remove the video as fast as people are reposting it.
Both Facebook and YouTube removed user comments in support of the murders, as sick as that sounds.
That’s the bigger issue here. Millions of people want to see a white nationalist slaughter innocent people. Is it morbid curiosity? A desire to share breaking news? Maybe for some people, but I fear it’s worse than that. 

Social media has become a potent platform for spreading hate and violence. The difficulty that some of the world’s biggest and most advanced companies have in pulling these videos demonstrates how determined the supporters of hate are to voice their message.
The killer made this video to immortalize his deeds and find meaning in his trivial life by going viral - similar to the fictional characters in my novel “Famous After Death.”
Sharing the video is exactly what the killer wanted. Don’t give him that pleasure. Don’t say his name.
Don’t let him have the fame he seeks.