While Facebook has policies against violent video, tracking and removing content being uploaded in real time is complicated. In a live point-of-view video uploaded to Facebook on Friday, the killer shot dozens of mosquegoers, at one point going back to his car to stock up on weapons. The companies were already under scrutiny over the rise in online extremist content, but Friday’s troubling incident also underscored big tech’s difficulties in rooting out violent content as crises unfold in real time. The episode saw users uploading and sharing clips from the disturbing 17-minute livestream faster than social media companies could remove them.
Social media giants, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, are facing new criticism after they struggled to block livestreamed footage of a gunman shooting worshippers at a mosque in New Zealand.
