Facebook Restricts Use of Live Streaming Feature to Curb Online Violence

Facebook Inc, on May 14 stated that it was tightening its policies around the use of its live streaming feature to curb online violence following a massacre that occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A lone gunman murdered 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on March 15 while live streaming the attacks on Facebook.

Following the aftermath, Facebook said that it was introducing a “one-strike” policy for use of Facebook Live. The policy temporarily restricts access for people with a history of breaking the company’s most serious rules anywhere on its site.

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According to Facebook, those breaking the rules for the first time will be suspended from using the live feature for a specific period. Consequently, the company said that it was also widening the range of offenses that will qualify for one-strike suspensions.

Nevertheless, Facebook did not specify the type of offenses that will warrant a one-strike policy or how long one will be suspended from using Live.

To further the rules governing the use of the feature, Facebook said that it was extending the restrictions to other areas over the coming weeks, commencing with barring the same offenders from creating ads on the platform.

The company also said that it would fund research at three universities on techniques to detect manipulated media, which Facebook’s systems struggled to spot in the aftermath of the attack.

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According to Facebook, it has removed 1.5 million videos globally that contained footage of the attack in the first 24 hours after it occurred.

The company, in a blog post in late March, noted that there were more than 900 different versions of the video.

The restrictions come as a welcome, especially to the New Zealand government and are bound to benefit other countries looking “to prevent the use of live streaming as a tool for broadcasting terrorist attacks.”

The new policy amendments come ahead of a meeting of world leaders aimed at curbing online violence.

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Representatives from Facebook, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc, and other tech companies are expected to take part in the meeting, although Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg will not be in attendance.