Tech companies scramble to remove mosque shooting video
LONDON — Internet companies scrambled Friday to remove graphic video filmed by a gunman in the New Zealand mosque shootings that was widely available on social media for hours after the horrific attack.
Facebook said it took down a livestream of the shootings and removed the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after being alerted by police. At least 49 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand’s third-largest city.
Using what appeared to be a helmet-mounted camera, the gunman livestreamed in horrifying detail 17 minutes of the attack on worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque, where at least 41 people died. Several more worshippers were killed at a second mosque a short time later.
The shooter also left a 74page manifesto that he posted on social media under the name Brenton Tarrant, identifying himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white nationalist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.
“Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this horrendous act,” Facebook New Zealand spokeswoman Mia Garlick said in a statement.
Facebook is “removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware,” she said. “We will continue working directly with New Zealand Police as their response and investigation continues.”
Twitter, YouTube owner Google and Reddit also were working to remove the footage from their sites.
The furor highlights once again the speed at which graphic and disturbing content from a tragedy can spread around the world and how Silicon Valley tech giants are still grappling with how to prevent that from happening.
British tabloid newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Sun posted screenshots and video snippets on their websites.
One journalist tweeted that several people sent her the video via the Facebookowned WhatsApp messaging app.
New Zealand police urged people not to share the footage, and many internet users called for tech companies and news sites to take the material down.
Some people expressed outrage on Twitter that the videos were still circulating hours after the attack.
“Google is actively inciting violence,” tweeted British journalist Carole Cadwalladr with a screen grab of search results of the video.
The video’s spread underscores the challenge for Facebook even after stepping up efforts to keep inappropriate and violent content off its platform. In 2017 it said it would hire 3,000 people to review videos and other posts, on top of the 4,500 people Facebook already tasks with identifying criminal and other questionable material for removal.
In footage that at times resembled scenes from a firstperson shooter video game, the mosque shooter was seen spraying terrified worshippers with bullets, sometimes re-firing at people he had already cut down.
He then walked outside, shooting at people on a sidewalk. Children’s screams could be heard in the distance as he strode to his car to get another rifle, then returned to the mosque, where at least two dozen people could be seen lying in pools of blood.
He walked back outside, shot a woman, got back in his car, and drove away.