Facebook, TikTok, X fail users again with graphic Charlie Kirk assassination footage available across platforms
Graphic footage of the moment Charlie Kirk was fatally shot was widely accessible on social media sites – including Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok – and remains online despite the companies’ pledges to protect the community from such content.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has highlighted the continued failure of social media companies to stop the spread of violent and extremist content on their platforms, amid reports that children were exposed to graphic footage of the conservative influencer’s death.
Graphic footage of the moment Kirk was fatally shot in the neck was widely accessible on various social media sites – including Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok – in the immediate aftermath of the incident on Thursday, and remains online despite the digital companies’ pledges to protect the community from such content.
While traditional media outlets chose not to air footage of the moment Kirk was struck by the bullet, hundreds of videos of the incident were uploaded and shared by people who were at the University of Utah, and the graphic clips were re-posted ad nauseam.
The sharing and re-posting of the incident has drawn comparisons with the 2019 massacre at a Christchurch mosque, which left 50 people dead. That attack was livestreamed on the gunman’s Facebook page, and by the time the original video was taken down – 69 minutes after it was first posted – it had already been shared on other platforms, including YouTube, millions of times.
In the wake of that incident, executives of social media companies pledged to do more to prevent the uploading of similarly graphic content.
On Friday morning (AEST), US media reported that TikTok had complied with a request to remove videos of Kirk’s final moments, but other platforms have so far not followed suit.
The horrifying clip can still be found on Instagram. Meta (which owns Instagram and Facebook) attached a ‘mark as sensitive’ warning label to footage of the shooting and “age-gated” the vision to its sites’ users who are 18 and over. Meta also claimed that it will not allow content that glorifies, represents, or supports the incident or the perpetrator, and if detected such material will be removed from its sites.
Asked what steps it has taken to remove the graphic footage of Kirk’s death from its platform, a spokesperson for YouTube said: “We are closely monitoring our platform and prominently elevating news content on the homepage, in search and in recommendations to help people stay informed.”
According to YouTube, the platform has removed some graphic content relating to Kirk’s death.
When pressed on whether it could and would remove the most graphic elements of the incident from YouTube, the spokesperson said: “We are only allowing content to stay up that provides context for viewers … this would include news coverage for example. And where appropriate, we are applying age restrictions and warning interstitials.”
A spokesperson for the federal government told The Australian said the onus was on the online platforms “to protect their users by quickly removing or restricting illegal harmful content”.
“There is no place for harmful and violent content to be accessible for children online which is what the government’s social media minimum age requirements will help prevent,” the spokesperson said.
“The government is also developing a Digital Duty of Care which would place greater requirements on industry to protect people from online harm.”
An eSafety spokesperson said the organisation had “received multiple complaints” about online material showing the fatal shooting.
“A number of these include reports school age children have accessed unedited video footage of the shooting via popular social media platforms,” the spokesperson said.
“eSafety is currently assessing the material and working collaboratively with platforms to inform them of its presence.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media “pushes people to extremes”.
“Political issues should be dealt with in the way that we dealt with them on (election day) May 3rd – having a respectful debate, people casting their vote through the democratic means, and respectful transition of power,” Mr Albanese told local radio in Cairns.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing a polarisation of politics.
“I think the impact of social media is playing a role there.
“It pushes people toward extremes, whether the left or the right, and that’s not a good thing.”
In the next fortnight, the Albanese government will announce details of what “reasonable steps” will need to be taken by digital platforms to prevent children younger than 16 from creating or holding a social media account.
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