Along with criticism, two
tech giants have been sued for letting the circulation of videos take place on
their platform. The French group outlined that such circulation entices
violence and encourages terrorism.
The heinous act of mass shooting took place in Christchurch
in New Zealand has stunned the world. The massacre has outgrown fears in minds
of people across the world as the footage was released on social media
platforms including Facebook and YouTube. Millions of users protested the act
of violence along with sharing of the massacre on these platforms. The impact
of live streaming was widespread and encouraged violence.
One of the groups that represent Muslims in France stated
that it will sue these social media platforms for allowing the circulation of
the video. It accuses the platforms for inciting violence for enabling the
streaming of the video. The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) outlined
that the circulation encouraged terrorism and caused harm to human dignity. The
shooting took place at two mosques on March 15 and livestreamed on Facebook. It
was copied and shared on other platforms. The massacre resulted in death of
nearly 50 people. The assailant has been charged with murder and is expected to
appear in court on April 5.
Though Facebook showed urgency in eliminating footage from
the platform, there were footages visible on the platform after the massacre.
Moreover, the footage was circulated on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook-owned
WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook and Alphabet were at the receiving end of
criticism for the footage.
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand
(FIANZ) supported the action of the French group. Moreover, the organization
outlined that it would contact Facebook to file their complain as it was not
able to do by now for being busy in dealing with the aftermath of massacre.
Anwar Ghani, the spokesman of FIANZ, said referring to Facebook that the platform has failed big time. The person carrying out attack was looking for audience and the live-streaming platform of Facebook was chosen by the person for advertising himself and the heinous crime. He added that the organization has not been in contact with the French group. However, if there is something that can entice violence through social media platform and encourage this type of crime, the organization would support that.
Along with filing a complaint and raising the voice against inability to stop circulation, we need to find the root cause of what leads to people take such steps. Extirpating such mindset would save innocent lives and stop spreading violence across the world. The trial and investigation of the culprit would give more insights into the mindset of these kind of people. There needs to be precautions taken by governments for stopping such incidents from taking place in the first place. On the other hand, though the purpose of social media platforms is to connect the world and bring people closer, there needs to be strict measures taken to prevent circulation of such violent videos.