Facebook deletes over a million videos of New Zealand mosque shooting
Facebook is removing posts for the New Zealand shooter who livestreamed the attack on his page.
The disturbing video ran for nearly 17 minutes and purportedly showed the gunman walking into a mosque and opening fire that left at least 49 people dead and many more injured.
On Sunday, Facebook in a statement, said it removed 1.5 million videos globally of the New Zealand mosque attack in the first 24 hours.
“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,” Facebook said in a tweet.
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…
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) March 17, 2019
GRAPHIC CONTENT
The company said it is also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content out of respect for the people affected by the mosque shooting and the concerns of local authorities.
The victims’ names have not yet been made public. While a preliminary list of the victims has been shared with families, New Zealand police said their bodies have not yet been released.
The number of wounded also increased to 50, he said.
Of those, 34 remain hospitalized in the Christchurch Hospital and 12 are in critical condition, Greg Robertson, the hospital’s chief of surgery, said.
MURDER CHARGES
A 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, who is the suspect of the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, was charged with murder on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a 22-year-old man will appear at Christchurch District Court on Monday morning, after being charged with offences under New Zealand’s Films Videos and Publications Classification Act.
“This man was arrested by police in the initial stages of the shooting investigation in Christchurch on Friday afternoon, but he is not being charged in relation to the attack. Police at this stage do not believe he was directly involved,” they said in a statement.
They also warned people against sharing video of the terror attack. Twitter and YouTube said they are working to remove the video.