Two weeks after a crazed gunman broadcast himself slaughtering 50 people in New Zealand on Facebook, the social network giant says it’s putting in new restrictions on livestreaming.
“We have heard feedback that we must do more – and we agree,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote to the New Zealand Herald amid worldwide outrage over the horrific footage taken from shooter Brenton Tarrant’s helmet camera at two mosques March 15.
“In the wake of the terror attack, we are taking three steps: strengthening the rules for using Facebook Live, taking further steps to address hate on our platforms, and supporting the New Zealand community.”
Facebook found more than 900 versions of the video showing portions of the 17-minute broadcast, Sandberg revealed, after it previously claimed users did not report the video until 12 minutes after the livestreaming ended.
She said the company is weighing limiting access to Facebook Live for those who have violated its “community” standards and is working on how to respond faster when disturbing footage is aired.
“We are also investing in research to build better technology to quickly identify edited versions of violent videos and images and prevent people from re-sharing these versions,” she wrote.
Those who praise or support terror attacks on Facebook will be flagged, Sandberg wrote said.
The company said it would remove the profiles of “hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, including the Lads Society, the United Patriots Front, the Antipodean Resistance, and National Front New Zealand” and “any comments supporting them,” according to Sandberg.
“We remain ready to work with the New Zealand Government’s Royal Commission to further review the role that online services play in these types of attacks,” she wrote. “We know there is more work to do.”
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.