Facebook Live

Controversial use

Facebook Live was used by the perpetrators of an incident in which four black young adults kidnapped and tortured a mentally disabled white male. All four were charged and convicted of hate crimes. Facebook Live was also used by Brenton Tarrant, perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings to broadcast the attack on Al Noor Mosque. A total of 51 people were killed and another 40 were injured at Al Noor and in a subsequent attack at Linwood Islamic Centre. This video was viewed over 4,000 times and had 200 watching it live. Because of this, Facebook announced it would be considering restrictions on the service. The service was also used to broadcast the hostage taking during the Nakhon Ratchasima shootings, which ultimately left 30 people dead including the perpetrator and 58 others injured. A shooting spree in Memphis in September 2022 was livestreamed by the suspect, a 19-year-old male; witnesses who viewed the stream saw him entering a store and shooting at customers inside. Additionally, Ronnie McNutt, an army veteran, committed suicide on a Facebook Live stream, leading to the footage spreading outside of Facebook Live to other social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, also owned by Meta.