LONDON: Twitter, Facebook parent Meta along with other social media companies scrambled on July eight to police movies on their platforms of the assassination of previous Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that break rules upon harmful content.
Multiple videos of the attack by a gunman who fired a homemade, double-barrelled tool twice at Abe circulated on social networking. Some only display the moments before and after the attack while others demonstrated both shots.
Abe, who stepped down in 2020, was shot times into a speech, airlifted to hospital, and later pronounced dead. Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene.
Twitter said its observance teams were trying to “address harmful content” relating to the strike by “proactively removing” material that violates its rules, which include restrictions on sensitive media including graphic violence.
Tweets urged users to flag up any potentially sensitive material of the attack therefore it can take action. Video clips of the attack can still be found quickly on Twitter several hours after the attack.
Meta said it had been deleting videos depicting the moment of the assault and had disabled the suspect’s Facebook plus Instagram accounts.
“We are deeply saddened and stunned at the passing of the former Prime Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe, ” Meta said inside a prepared statement.
“We do not and can not tolerate any violent behavior on this platform. To keep our own platform a secure place to connect, we are working to remove any violating content related to the incident, ” it said.
Meta said it took action below its policy on dangerous individuals, and that it’s labelling still photos of the strike as “disturbing”.
YouTube said its systems are offering prominence to videos related to the attack from “authoritative sources” such as news companies, the video sharing web site said, adding that it will remove any content that fractures its rules, which include a ban on chaotic or graphic content material.
TikTok said it’s working to quickly “identify content, accounts and hashtags related to this tragic incident” and removing any content and balances that violates the rules. – AP