Mate’s suicide anguish

A CLOSE friend of the man whose suicide video went viral on TikTok and other social networks this week has called for urgent changes, arguing his friend’s life could have been saved if Facebook had responded when the incident was first reported.

And Josh Steen, who said Facebook took more than two hours to remove the distressing video after his friend died, welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s public call for reform, telling News Corp that putting pressure on powerful social networks was “the only way I believe we can get change”.

Deeply disturbing footage of 33-year-old American man Ronnie McNutt ending his life went viral on popular video platform TikTok this week, shocking users when it automatically played in their “For You” video stream without warning.

Its spread was particularly harmful given TikTok’s large audience of young teens.

But Mr Steen, a graphic designer who collaborated on a podcast with Mr McNutt, said it wasn’t just TikTok that failed to remove the video from the internet, as he and his friends had “watched this thing literally work its way across the globe, and no matter how many times we report(ed) accounts, posts, or harassment, it wouldn’t go away”.

“I watched my friend die after I attempted contact multiple times,” he said. “Now children across the globe are watching this, without context.”

Mr Steen said he reported the live video to Facebook while his friend was still alive, hoping the company would shut it down and give Mr McNutt time to reconsider his actions.

Unfortunately, he received responses from Facebook hours later, he said, stating the video did not violate its “community guidelines”.

“They did not respond to my initial support request until almost two hours later, and almost an hour after Ronnie had (suicided).”

The livestream video remained on Facebook for more than two hours and was shared to other social media.

A Facebook spokeswoman said the company removed the graphic video from its platform “on the day it was streamed and have used automation technology to remove copies and uploads since that time”.

But since appearing on Facebook on August 31, parts of the six-minute video have appeared on sites including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Some are still hosting the footage.

For help with emotional difficulties, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au