Boyfriend Killed 17-Year-Old Girlfriend And Posted Photos Of Her Dead Body On Instagram

On Sunday, a murder suspect posted photos of his victim’s bloody body on Instagram and a number of sites. The man was suspected for killing his 17-year-old girlfriend in New York, the US and his action after the murder once again sets off alarm bells about how social media is fighting violent content on their platforms.

Instagram said that it, on Sunday, removed a photo posted to @yesjuliet, which belongs to Brandon Andrew Clark who was charged with second-degree murder this Monday. From the photo, the police managed to define the victim as Bianca Devins. The social giant on Monday pulled down the suspect’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. The company also ‘hashed’ the photo to prevent it from being reposted, this is a digital fingerprint used by social platforms to prevent users from reposting an offensive content.

A spokesperson from Facebook said that the company is taking all measures possible to delete the content from its platforms.

The incident surfaces at a time when social networks are struggling to control its services’ dark side. This March, the New Zealand shooting went viral on Facebook Live and the social giant failed to pull the video down before it spread to other platforms. In 2016, a US man suspected of murdering his girlfriend also posted a photo of her dead body on the network. A little while back in 2013, a man from South Florida called the ‘Facebook killer,’ posted a photo of his wife’s corpse on Facebook after shooting and killing her.

It appears that Instagram managed to prevent the Utica photo from spreading across social media though it was still available on several messaging platforms. The photo went on Instagram Stories. The company refused to disclose the number of views and comments it got before being removed. And while the company didn’t inform how it knew about the image, it is deleting accounts impersonating the suspect. In addition, it blocked the hashtag #yesjuliet to prevent users’ attempt to repost the image.

According to Micheal Curley, a Police sergeant in Utica, the photo was initially shared on gamers’ chatting service Discord. The platform’s members alerted the police about the images, which also went on Snapchat. Law enforcement reached out to all three platforms to have photos deleted.

The Discord server, which is similar to a Facebook group, where the photos were posted is now inaccessible. A Discord spokesperson that the group is working with law enforcement to give the best assistance it can.

Snapchat did not respond to a comment request.