In the span of just two days, America has seen two black men killed on camera by police: Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Advertisement
The controversy seemed far away from this secluded resort town, where Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed before a crowd of billionaires but wasn’t asked about Facebook’s role or responsibilities in broadcasting traumatic news events, according to sources who attended the talk.
Valerie and Clarence both thanked Diamond for live streaming the incident because otherwise his family “wouldn’t have known what really happened to him”.
This video contains some strong language and scenes that may be distressing.
Low on the priority list, but still important, is that the video also forced Facebook to take more of an active stance on the kind of content it allows on its social network.
Philando Castile was 32 years old when he was shot and killed by police Falcon Heights Police on Wednesday evening.
Facebook’s push into live streaming assures that such violent or otherwise disturbing events would not be the last. “He was just getting his license and registration, sir”. “Please don’t tell me, officer, that you just did this to him”.
Through the camera lens of the common person, the world will see what they saw.
To say that the struggle for dominance in the field of online video is intense would be to undersell it, especially as it pertains to mega players like Google and Facebook. The latter told TechCrunch the video was inaccessible due to technical issues and remarked it did not violate Facebook requirements. Ironically, now the main exposure to the horrific video is done through Youtube, which attempts to fence off unsafe content from minors, and does not allow every user broadcast live.
Despite that growing impact, people are “deeply confused about whether algorithmic ordering or human systems are bringing up what they see”, Bell said.
We understand the unique challenges of live video.
Could Facebook Live Replace Television News? A couple hours after, it was down for about an hour.
Reynolds, who turned to Facebook live video as her fiancé died from his wounds in the auto seat beside her, explained to reporters that she wanted people to know the truth of her situation. That’s when war broke out in Dallas, with five police officers shot and killed in an ongoing atrocity.
Bautista’s video has already been watched by more than five million people.
Chewbacca Mom Candace Payne proved the power of Facebook Live videos last May when she posted herself trying out a toy mask and gained hundred of millions of views. Bautista claimed in the second video that he knew how to take cover from his time serving in the U.S. Army.
In regards to the Facebook Live video that started it all, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, said he hopes the world will never have to see another video like that again.
The company noted that violent and graphic images often generate the most controversy and offense. Videos or comments that glorify violence will result in the video being removed, the company said.
The problem with Live is that people tend to wave the red flag early on, even in situations which could otherwise be handled softly.
“There are a handful of companies at the moment in a position to offer a live-streaming service where individual broadcasts are easily discoverable and shareable”, Harvard Law and computer science professor Jonathan Zittrain told the New York Times. Adding fuel to that fire, the past week has created further discussion on live broadcast’s implication on society at large.
After all, Twitter and other social media sites been given great (though debated) credit for facilitating the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya.
Advertisement
Without explicitly protecting content that serves the public interest, the guidelines define Facebook as a place to share experiences and raise awareness.
