Facebook, YouTube Are Called To Brief The Congress After New Zealand Shooting

Chief Executive Officers of Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Microsoft are receiving a requirement from the US House Homeland Security Committee to prioritize removing violent terrorist content after tragic New Zealand shooting last week.

On Tuesday, Mississippi Democrat Chairman Bennie G. Thompson wrote to the CEOs, urging them to quickly remove all violent content, which includes posts by domestic, far-right terrorists.

Last Friday, a gunman opened fire, aiming at worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, who were gathering for prayers. The criminal even livestreamed his shooting and share the live footage on Facebook.

Tributes to the victims of New Zealand shooting

Although the social network removed the video and terminated his account, the clip was still all over the Internet. Thompson reportedly asked the companies for a briefing on March 27 before the Homeland Security Committee about their response to the video’s spread as well as their plan to prevent incidents of this kind.

The letter sent to Mark Zuckerberg, Susan Wojcicki, Jack Dorsey, and Satya Nadella, the CEOs of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft respectively, reads:

The letter requires the tech giants to prioritize responses to those violent and toxic ideologies with great attention using their resources.

Thompson added that if the firms don’t do this, Congress may issue policies to make sure terrorist content isn’t spread across the platforms by looking at the work of other nations.

Bennie G. Thompson

The four companies, in 2017, launched a joint forum to delete toxic content from their networks. Thompson, however, stated that the New Zealand shooting is an example of how terrorists can still share violent videos.

Thompson continues by emphasizing on the importance of prioritizing removing such sensitive, violent content. According to studies, mass killings inspire copy cats and companies must do their best to avoid this.

In response to Thompson’s letter, Facebook and Microsoft representatives confirmed the companies’ presence before the committee while YouTube hasn’t confirmed anything.

Twitter, on the other hand, didn’t respond to a comment request immediately.