On March 15th in Christchurch, New Zealand an Australian terrorist stormed two mosques in the city leaving more than 50 people dead after the mass shooting. But there was one very unique difference from what we’ve seen before – the event was broadcasted using Facebook’s livestream feature in which nearly 200 people viewed the event live and no users reported the crime until 29 minutes after the video started. The video itself was still able to be viewed after being taken off live and was only removed after an additional 4,000 views of the broadcast. Even with the original removed, internet users were quick to make thousands of copies that continued to be viewable before Facebook was able to notice and remove the content.
This event marks a new era that has been in the making, one in which social media platforms allow anyone and everyone to post any content they please in live time. For terrorists and murders wanting their name in lights, that instant shot of being noticed and their crimes being seen could be the deadly formula that drives this social media murder crisis to be on the rise. The instant notoriety is an increasing problem and the question develops of where the accountability should lie.
The History of Livestream Murders
The New Zealand massacre may be the most recent attack broadcasted on the platform but within the past few years Facebook has seen this type of true crime livestream multiple times. The chilling truth is that videos like this, in which real murders take place, used to be hidden and tucked away in the “dark web” – or a collection of websites existed in encrypted networks. But with this new Facebook feature, there is no parameters to stop the crimes from being broadcast. In contrast to a medium like YouTube, prerecorded videos holds a certain set of regulations that livestreams cannot enforce due to their unraveling in the present time. Here’s some notable livestreams that made headlines in 2017:
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January 2017:
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Tesafaye Cooper, Brittany Covington and Tanisha Covington livestream a 25-minute attack on an 18-year-old special-needs teenager.
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Gang-rape by three men to one woman in Sweden is aired on Facebook live.
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April 2017
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Steve Stephens uploads a video of his murder than livestreams his confession and suicide.
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Wuttisan Wongtalay of Thailand broadcasts himself killing his 11-month-old daughter after an argument with his family.
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March 2019
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The New Zealand massacre, a white supremacist attack, is livestreamed on Facebook.
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While those are some of the most notable cases that made breaking news, Wall Street Journal has reported that over 50 criminal acts or incidents with the likes of murder, suicide and assault have happened on the platform despite hiring 3,000 more employees in 2017 to speed up the removal of such videos. However, we live in the culture of “live” which has become a beast of its own that cannot be tamed simply because there is no way to restrict it unless the tool is deleted. When that camera turns on there is absolute freedom and no way of knowing what will be streamed.
The New Zealand massacre is an example of this unfortunate formula where viewers are relied on to report content when in reality, many people, like the 200 plus live viewers, won’t do a thing. The fascination with true crime is evident in series about Ted Bundy emerging or in shows like Making a Murderer, but is Facebook live allowing this once distant obsession to become too real too easily? It’s an interesting time for crime in a digital age.
Inside the Mind of a Criminal on Live
David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, described that it has always been common for criminals and killers to want to get recognition for their acts by ways of tipping themselves off to the press or sending letters. The Zodiac Killer was a notorious one to play these games. In the current culture of social media broadcasting, the performance aspect of crime is doubly felt with the live feature. Wilson states, “the killer is very much telling a story about themselves, it’s about narcissism; their need to be in control… validate their life by taking another life”. The New Zealand shooter seems to fit the bill, wanting to be the white supremacist who takes a stand in front of however many people would tune into his stream. The massacre was his performance – a modern day cat and mouse with police except instead of tipping off, the crime was simply shown as it happened.
The issue is that viewers react in shock and odd fascination and no matter how good the intent, the content ends up being shared and spread into virality and the perpetrators get the status they want and their message is spread. Luckily, in the case of New Zealand, the prime minister Jacinda Ardern stands her ground in stating that she wants the gunman to remain nameless at least coming from her and urges others to do the same. In the wake of a social media livestream, Ardern’s best stance to stop the performer from completing his “show” is to never give him credit for any of it.
Is There a Solution?
Sophia Cope, a staff attorney at a non-profit focused on digital civil liberties, stated the depiction of violence is protected by the first amendment and social media platforms are protected by the 1996 Communications Decency Act that safeguards internet companies from being liable for acts of users. While the problem is not inherently the networks, and most definitely guilt is that of the criminal, it is easy to question if social media has gone too far with this live feature.
The Internet was shocked at the prerecorded release of the Isis beheadings and now it seems such videos have transformed into the new era of live. More social media outlets, such as Instagram, have adopted the streaming feature making the opportunities even more accessible.
With the recent shooting in New Zealand this new type of crime has been thrusted into the spotlight and the implications shouldn’t be ignored. Violent crime has found an escape route to bypass traditional media and thrust someone straight into infamy and where one leads, many may follow. Facebook live is a new crime scene and without the yellow caution tape, everyone can get a sneak peek in real time.