Gunman livestreams killings for 17 min
Christchurch, March 15
A gunman who killed 49 people at two New Zealand mosques live-streamed the attacks on Facebook for 17 minutes using an app designed for extreme sports enthusiasts, with copies still being shared on social media hours later.
The live footage of Friday’s attacks, New Zealand’s worst-ever mass shooting, was first posted to Facebook and has since been shared on Twitter, Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all said they had taken steps to remove copies of the videos. Facebook said it had deleted the gunman’s accounts “shortly after the livestream commenced” after being alerted by police.
But Reuters found videos of the shooting on all five platforms up to 10 hours after the attacks, which began at 1345 local time in the city of Christchurch. Twitter and Google said they were working to stop the footage being reshared. Facebook did not immediately respond to additional questions.
In a 15-minute window, Reuters found five copies of the footage on YouTube uploaded under the search term “New Zealand” and tagged with categories including “education” and “people & blogs”. In another case, the video was shared by a verified Instagram user in Indonesia with more than 1.6 million followers. The user did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Facebook, Twitter, Alphabet Inc and other social media companies have previously acknowledged the challenges they face policing content on their platforms.
The shootings in New Zealand show how the services they offer can be exploited by extremist groups, said Lucinda Creighton, senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project. “Extremists will always look for ways to utilise communications tools to spread hateful ideologies and violence,” she said.
Computer game carnage
The gunman filmed and shared the attacks using a mobile phone app called LIVE4, which allows users to broadcast directly to Facebook from personal body cameras, according to the app’s developer and a Reuters review of videos available online.
The app is usually used to share videos of extreme sports and live music, but on Friday the footage recreated the carnage of a computer game, showing the attacker’s first-person view as he drove to one mosque, entered it and began shooting randomly at people inside.
Alex Zhukov, founder and chief technology officer of LIVE4 developer VideoGorillas, said the LIVE4 services transmitted footage directly to Facebook and his company did not have the ability to review it first.
The New Zealand government said it could be illegal to share the video, which showed the gunman repeatedly shooting at worshippers from close range. The “manifesto” detailing motivations for the attack was posted on Friday onto a Twitter account with the same name and profile image as the Facebook page that streamed the attack. — Reuters
White-supremacist references on rifles
- Online accounts linked to gun attacks had in recent days circulated white supremacist imagery and extreme right-wing messages celebrating violence against Muslims and minorities on social media and message boards
- Twitter handle @brentontarrant tweeted pictures of one of the guns later used in the mosque attacks. It was covered in white lettering, featuring the names of others who had committed race-or religion-based killings
We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are enclave for extremism— Jacinda Ardern, NZ PM
I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post 9/11 where Islam and 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim. This has been done to also demonise legitimate Muslim political struggles — Imran Khan, Pakistan PM
We stand here and condemn, absolutely the attack that occurred by an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist— Scott Morrison, Australian PM
