Facebook Live Unwittingly Streams Murder Video, Footage Of Other Violent Crimes

skeleton_hackerIt’s no secret that Facebook thinks video is the future of all communication. However, the social media giant might want to think about how it can control the kind of videos it broadcasts if that prediction comes true.

This month, a Facebook Live video allegedly showed the fatal shooting of a Chicago man. A French terrorist also murdered a police officer and his partner and then livestreamed on Facebook, wondering aloud what to do with the couple’s three-year-old child. For its part, Facebook removed the terrorist’s video, though the footage of the Chicago shooting remains posted in various places with a “graphic content” disclaimer.

Facebook opened its livestreaming feature last summer to compete with popular video platforms like Periscope and Snapchat. However, Facebook has many more users than those two apps, and thus a greater number of videos to review — and a greater chance that some of those videos will depict violence.

“We do understand and recognize that there are unique challenges when it comes to content and safety for Live videos,” a Facebook spokesperson told Quartz. “It’s a serious responsibility, and we work hard to strike the right balance between enabling expression while providing a safe and respectful experience. We’re deeply committed to improving the effectiveness of how we handle reports of live content that violates our Community Standards.”

With the advent of live video on the Internet, it was a given that some serious things could one day be filmed and broadcast. And that’s why Facebook should’ve been better prepared to deal with graphic videos like these to ensure they don’t remain posted for long.