bestgore.com (stylized as BestGore.com and abbreviated BG)[2] was a Canadian shock site active from 2008 to 2020 and owned by Mark Marek,[3] which provided highly violent real-life news, photos and videos, with authored opinion and user comments. The site received media attention in 2012, following the hosting of a snuff film depicting the murder of Jun Lin. As a result, Marek was arrested and charged under Canada's obscenity law with corrupting public morals.
Type of site | Shock site |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Mark Marek |
| Revenue | Advertising and donations |
| Launched | April 30, 2008[1][better source needed] |
| Current status | Defunct since November 15, 2020[citation needed] |
History
editThe site was launched on April 30, 2008, by Slovak-Canadian Mark Marek,[4] and hosted explicit, real-life, photographic and video material of events such as murders, suicides, torture, open surgeries, mutilations, traffic collisions, leaked government documents, live assassinations, CIA and FBI Files.
In a 2017 interview with GQ Australia, Mark Marek insisted that running BestGore.com costs more than it generates in revenue and said, "No company with a reasonable budget would want to advertise on a website that exposes police brutality, government abuse of citizens, war profiteering and similar anti-people activities. So all I'm left with is porn. Worse yet, porn earns less today than it did five years ago".[5]
As of November 15, 2020, the website is considered defunct as Marek, its founder and administrator, has decided to focus his attention on other interests. On November 17, 2020, when asked in the comment section on BestGore.com's lbry.tv site whether BestGore.com is down and if it will be indefinitely, Mark Marek replied, "Most likely permanently".[6]
Controversies and legal issues
editMurder of Jun Lin
editIn June 2012, the website was criticized for the inclusion of the graphic video titled 1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick, which depicts the murder of Jun Lin, as well as the rape and dismemberment of his corpse, committed by Luka Magnotta. Police said that Marek had initially refused requests to remove the video from the site, while Marek said, "I took it down myself, on my own terms, without being asked. Had any such request by police to take it down, as alleged, been made, I would have just told them that the video had been down for days."[7][8] Gil Zvulony, a Toronto-based lawyer specializing in Internet law, stated that the evidence supported the laying of obscenity charges against BestGore.com, stating, "There's no real crime where there's no knowledge, but once they got notice of that and they allowed it to stay on there."[8]
Marek claimed that he would receive positive testimonies from readers and that viewing the website's content had sometimes convinced people to avoid taking risks in their everyday life including speeding, darting between traffic on motorcycle, horseplay with forklifts, and even persuaded some not to commit suicide. Marek compared his website's content to the shocking images used by the Canadian government on cigarette packaging to discourage smoking.[9]
Corruption of morals charge
editIn June 2012, it was reported that the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal was investigating Bestgore.com[10] for charges of obscenity due to the posting of 1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick. The Toronto Sun claimed that charges were pending against Marek, which he denied.[11][12]
On July 16, 2013, Edmonton police charged Marek with one count of "corrupting morals" in connection with posting the Magnotta video. The rare charge is based on section 163 of the Canadian Criminal Code and carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment. One police investigator described the site as "a racist website, inciting hate, hatred, violence—violence above and beyond anything normal."[13][14] Marek was released on bail, but was re-arrested on July 26 for allegedly violating the terms of his release.[15] In January 2016, he pleaded guilty and was given a conditional sentence of three months of house arrest followed by three months of community service.[16]
In a November 2013 interview with Adrianne Jeffries of The Verge, Marek said that section 163(1) prohibits distribution of crime comics and methods of curing venereal disease, and noted that the law was enforced selectively and could be used indiscriminately. Marek also defended the value of actually looking at gory material:[9]
You can take the publishing of the chainsaw beheading[17] by the Syrian rebels propaganda team who claimed that this atrocity was committed by people behind president Bashar al-Assad [sic]. The video stirred major outrage in the ranks of the sheeple, but it didn't fool anyone on Best Gore, because we know where the video is really from. It's been on Best Gore since before the Syrian fraudulent revolution started and we have its full version, including the original audio and know it's from Mexico.[18] It was the same when Best Gore busted the rebels about the publishing of the domestic gas leak explosion[19] which they also manipulated into looking like the aftermath of alleged indiscriminate bombings by the rulers. Or more recently, when the whole world was revving about Muslims being slaughtered by Buddhists in Burma (Myanmar)[20]—the propaganda fooled everyone, except us on Best Gore because we recognized the lynching video from Kenya,[21] the earthquake in Tibet and the tsunami disaster in Thailand which had been used in unrelated context.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Six Years of Best Motherfucking Gore". BestGore.com. 2014-04-30. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "Dozen Years of Best Motherfucking Gore – Best Gore". Archived from the original on 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
- ^ Bambury, Brent (June 1, 2012). "Interview with Mark Marek From Best Gore website" Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. CBC.ca.
- ^ "Edmonton gore site owner charged in Magnotta video investigation released on bail". Global News. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Millar, Jake (May 12, 2017). Inside The World Of Gore: Why Gruesome Videos Draw A Crowd". Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ "Mark Marek confirms BestGore.com shutdown". Retrieved November 17, 2020.
- ^ "Statement by Marek" Archived 2013-08-24 at the Wayback Machine August 20, 2013
- ^ a b Cohen, Tobi (June 5, 2012). "Leaving murder video online is a crime: lawyer". National Post. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^ a b "Mark Marek Interviewed by Adrianne Jeffries from The Verge". Politicalprisoner.ca. November 26, 2013. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
- ^ "Best Gore website investigated over Magnotta video" CBC.ca. June 5, 2012.
- ^ Roth, Pamela (June 5, 2012). "Charges pending on Bestgore.com webmaster" Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Sun.
- ^ Graveland, Bill (June 5, 2012). "Gore site owner says he hasn't heard from police about dismemberment video" Archived 2013-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. The Canadian Press.
- ^ Canadian Press (July 17, 2013). "Gore site owner charged for posting dismemberment video in Luka Magnotta case". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on 2013-08-02. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ "Police charge Edmonton gore site owner in Magnotta video investigation". Global News. July 17, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-19. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
- ^ Lazzarino, Dave (July 26, 2013). "Bestgore.com operator back in custody after allegedly breaking bail conditions". QMI Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
- ^ Reith, Terry. "Mark Marek, who posted Magnotta murder video, pleads guilty to corrupting morals". CBC. Archived from the original on 2016-01-29. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "Mexican Chainsaw Beheading Used in Anti Assad Propaganda". bestgore.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ "Chainsaw Beheading Video - Sinaloa Cartel Members Decapitated in Mexico - Best Gore". bestgore.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ "Man Dies in Domestic Gas Leak Explosion, Video Used for Propaganda". bestgore.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ "Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims by Buddhists in Burma". bestgore.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ http://www.politicalprisoner.ca/2013/11/interviews/mark-marek-interview-adrianne-jeffries-the-verge/Ethnic%20Cleansing%20of%20Muslims%20by%20Buddhists%20in%20Burma [dead link]