Facebook has removed as many as 1.5 million video clips depicting the deadly shooting at a mosque in New Zealand’s eastern city of Christchurch over the first 24 hours, with the social network preventing most of the videos from being posted in the first place, Mia Garlick, the director of policy Australia and New Zealand for Facebook, said.
A shooter who was involved in Friday’s attack on two Christchurch mosques streamed the massacre at one of the mosques live, with video quickly staring to circulate on social media. New Zealand police have urged people to not share the link to the video. Facebook, in turn, said that the network had been notified by the police about the video soon after the beginning of the livestream and promptly removed the footage along with the attacker’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“We continue to work around the clock to remove violating content using a combination of technology and people. In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload,” Garlick was quoted as saying by Facebook Newsroom via Twitter on Sunday.
Garlick added that the social network was also deleting those versions of the video that had been edited and did not contain graphic scenes.
The shootings, which have been described as a terrorist attack by the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, have claimed the lives of 50 people, while dozens of others have been wounded, according to the latest data. A 28-year-old Australian national was charged with murder soon after the attack. On Saturday, a New Zealand court ordered that he should remain in custody until April 5.
Facebook removes 1.5Mln videos of Christchurch mosque shooting over 24 hours – Statement
