Facebook has been facing criticism, and questions about its policy concerning violent content, in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday killing that rocked Cleveland over the weekend. Prior to leading authorities in five states on a two-day manhunt that ended with his suicide, crazed gunman Steve Stephens had recorded and posted to the social media site with a video of him murdering 75-year-old victim Robert Godwin Sr. While the recordings he'd put up identified the dangerous gunman to millions, and no doubt helped lead to his capture, the fact that the shooting video remained up for a full two hours shook the Godwin family and unsettled a great deal of the public.
Within 24-hours, Facebook announced that it was reviewing its policy in response to the public's reaction. And on Tuesday, April 18, CEO Mark Zuckerberg let the public know that the tragic shooting has been on his mind when he addressed the incident during Facebook's annual F8 developer's conference. "Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr., and we have a lot of work, and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening," he said.
Facebook currently removes content pending a review that takes place within 24 hours, given that the piece of media has been flagged. Over the past couple of years, the site has had to combat the posting of murders, suicides, and torture in an effort to preserve it's relatively clean reputation.
Source: youtube.com
