Best Gore (abbreviated BG) was a Canadian

shock site A shock site is a website that is intended to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, though it can also contain elements of humor or evoke (in some viewers) sexual arousal. Shock-oriented websites generally contain material that is pornogra ...

active from 2008 to 2020 and owned by Mark Marek, which provided highly violent real-life

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and prac ...

and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

s, with authored opinion and user comments. The site received media attention in 2012, following the hosting of a video depicting the

murder of Jun Lin In May 2012, Jun Lin (; December 30, 1978 – May 24 or 25, 2012), a Chinese university student, was fatally stabbed and dismembered in Montreal, Canada, by Luka Rocco Magnotta, who then mailed Lin's hands and feet to elementary schools and f ...

. As a result, Marek was arrested and charged under Canada's

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

law with corrupting public morals.

History

The site was launched on April 30, 2008, by Mark Marek, and hosted explicit, real-life, photographic and video material of events such as

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

, open surgeries,

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the ) is Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life. In the modern era, the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation, referring to alteratio ...

traffic collision A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

s, leaked government documents, live assassinations,

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

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 Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

, 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". 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".

Controversies and legal issues

Murder of Jun Lin

In June 2012, the website was criticized for the inclusion of the graphic video titled '' 1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick'', which depicts the

, as well as the rape and dismemberment of his corpse, committed by

Luka Magnotta In May 2012, Jun Lin (; December 30, 1978 – May 24 or 25, 2012), a Chinese university student, was fatally stabbed and dismembered in Montreal, Canada, by Luka Rocco Magnotta, who then mailed Lin's hands and feet to elementary schools and f ...

. 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." Gil Zvulony, a

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

specializing in

Internet law Information technology law (IT law), also known as information, communication and technology law (ICT law) or cyberlaw, concerns the juridical regulation of information technology, its possibilities and the consequences of its use, including comp ...

, stated that the evidence supported the laying of

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." 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 Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, expre ...

, darting between traffic on motorcycle, horseplay with forklifts, and even persuaded some not to commit

. Marek compared his website's content to the shocking images used by the Canadian government on cigarette packaging to discourage smoking.

Corruption of morals charge

In June 2012, it was reported that the

Service de police de la Ville de Montréal The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (, "Montreal Police Service", abbr. SPVM) is the municipal police agency for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the neighbouring communities in the urban agglomeration of Montreal. With over 4 ...

was investigating Bestgore.com for charges of obscenity due to the posting of ''1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick''. The ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

'' claimed that charges were pending against Marek, which he denied. On July 16, 2013,

Edmonton police The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The current chief of the EPS is Dale McFee. The service has three deputy chiefs two sworn members and a civilian member. Chad Tawfik is r ...

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." Marek was released on bail, but was re-arrested on July 26 for allegedly violating the terms of his release. In January 2016, he pleaded guilty and was given a conditional sentence of three months of

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

followed by three months of community service. In a November 2013 interview with Adrianne Jeffries of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'', 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:

References

{{Authority control Censorship in Canada Defunct websites Internet properties established in 2008 Internet properties disestablished in 2020 Online obscenity controversies Shock sites

History

Controversies and legal issues

Murder of Jun Lin

Corruption of morals charge

See also

References