New Zealand police have sent a notice to the owner of the Kiwi Farms internet message board demanding the preservation of IP addresses and email addresses associated with posts related to the Christchurch shootings, believed to have been committed by 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant. Tarrant used Facebook Live to broadcast the first of two Friday attacks on local mosques that left 50 dead and 50 injured, which was rapidly disseminated across various file hosing platforms and websites, including Kiwi Farms - which received the preservation request on Saturday. Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand "At around the time of the shooting there were a number of posts and links posted on kiwifarms.net relating to the shooting and TARRANT," reads the letter from Senior Sergeant New Zealand Police detective John Michael. "We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc linked to these posts pending a formal legal request." "Could you please advise what legal process you require for this request and also confirm preservation of the data requested pending legal process," the letter concludes. The email was verified by journalist https://twitter.com/nickmon1112!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");. I HAVE A COPY OF THE EMAIL I CAN CONFIRM THIS IS REAL Kiwi Farms Administrator has provided me a forwarded copy of the DEMAND FOR USER INFORMATION from https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); INFORMATION ABOUT USERS WHO TALKED ABOUT IT pic.twitter.com/1h84L3W1vk — Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) https://twitter.com/nickmon1112/status/1107141581323358209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Responding to the preservation request, Kiwi Farms owner Joshua Moon - a US citizen living abroad, asked "Is this a joke? I'm not turning over information abouit my users. The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself." Tell your superiors they're going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the Internet. You're a small, irrelevant island nation barely more recognizable than any other nameless pacific sovereignty. You do not have the clout to eradicate a video from the Internet and you do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone whose posted it. If anyone turns over to you the information they're asking for they're not only cowards, but they're fucking idiots. ... If you're wondering, no. Kiwi Farms has nothing to do with New Zealand. Our name is a pointed jab at some of the mushmouthed autistic people we make fun of. Absolutely nothing about our community is NZ oriented. Prior to the attack, a message was posted 8chan /pol/ message board linking people to a 74-page manifesto and Tarrant's Facebook Live stream. 8chan has agreed to cooperate in the investigation, while Zealand authorities have warned residents that the mere possession of the video could result in prison time. After the shooting, a person believed to be Moon said in a Saturday 4chan post that he was the operator of an "autistic shitposting forum," and had recorded and uploaded footage of the shooting. After several takedown requests and a flood of users downloading the video leaving "not enough bandwidth to go around," the users says they created peer-to-peer trackers for people to access the footage. Since receiving the letter, Moon has posted this warning to users at the top of Kiwi Farms: If you are from New Zealand, your government is hunting you. Read this letter from NZ Police, then change your email address if you're using a personal account. Start using a VPN everywhere. I'm setting data retention to zero for the immediate future. Warrant canary is in the footer. Good alter-ego email services not associated with me: Cockli, ProtonMail Logless VPNs: PrivateInternetAccess, NordVPN, ProtonVPN Given that there were three other people arrested in addition to Tarrant (although police now say they don't think any of them are thought to have been involved in the shootings), perhaps authorities suspect there were online accomplices who distributed information to message boards in order to maximize its exposure. On the other hand, New Zealanders who had nothing to do with the attack and did not conceal their IP address via technical means (and/or used an identifying email address) could soon find themselves prosecuted for doing nothing more than accessing or exchanging information. Read the entire exchange below. *** On 3/17/2019 6:12 AM, MICHAEL, John (JP) wrote: Good afternoon I am hoping that you can help us with an investigation the New Zealand Police are working on. On 15 March 2019 there was a shooting in New Zealand with multiple fatalities at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. The alleged offender in this matter is a Brenton TARRANT. At around the time of the shooting there were a number of posts and links posted on kiwifarms.net /kiwifarms.net> relating to the shooting and TARRANT We would like to preserve any posts and technical data including IP addresses, email addresses etc linked to these posts pending a formal legal request . Could you please advise what legal process you require for this request and also confirm preservation of the data requested pending legal process. Kind regards John John Michael_ _Detective Senior Sergeant* *E-mail: john.michael@police.govt.nz =============================================================== WARNING The information contained in this email message is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged information. It may also be subject to the provisions of section 50 of the Policing Act 2008, which creates an offence to have unlawful possession of Police property. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or have received this message in error, you must not peruse, use, distribute or copy this message or any of its contents. Also note, the views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect those of the New Zealand Police. If you have received this message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately --- Is this a joke? I'm not turning over information about my users. The person responsible for posting the video and manifesto PDF is myself. I feel real bad for you guys, you've got a quiet nation and now this attack is going to be the first thing people think of for the next 10 years when they hear the name New Zealand, but you can't do this. Tell your superiors they're going to make the entire country and its government look like clowns by trying to censor the Internet. You're a small, irrelevant island nation barely more recognizable than any other nameless pacific sovereignty. You do not have the clout to eradicate a video from the Internet and you do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone whose posted it. If anyone turns over to you the information they're asking for they're not only cowards, but they're fucking idiots. My name is Joshua Moon, I'm a US Citizen living overseas. My company is contained within a Florida company. If you need an address to send physical documents to this works. Lolcow LLC 913 Beal Pkwy NW Suite A-1017 Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 If you're wondering, no. Kiwi Farms has nothing to do with New Zealand. Our name is a pointed jab at some of the mushmouthed autistic people we make fun of. Absolutely nothing about our community is NZ oriented. And I don't give a single solitary fuck what section 50 of your faggot law say about sharing your email. Fuck you and fuck your shithole country. - Josh --- Hi Josh Appreciate your quick response. Will definitely consider what you have said. Regards John John Michael Detective Senior Sergeant E-mail: john.michael@police.govt.nz