Conversation

Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
As if to show how hard the task of moderation is, I'm watching videos of the incident be uploaded and taken down and then uploaded again in real time. Truly disturbing.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
What's bizarre is that YouTube's algo or moderators have flagged these videos as sensitive, but users are still allowed to watch them after consenting. This is the screen you see before viewing. How is broadcasting mass murder not a violation of terms of service?
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Also worth remembering as internet users upload and share this terrible, terrible stuff, there are moderators sitting in some nondescript office building right now having to relive this incident over and over and over again for shit wages.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Here's a Twitter spokesperson: "We have taken down the account of the alleged perpetrator and are working to actively remove all versions of the video from Twitter." No response yet from YouTube.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
YouTube seems to have cleared most of the videos featuring scenes of the active shooting. Some users are now uploading clips of the alleged perpetrator saying "Remember lads, subscribe to P**D**P**", which seems to be getting through the filters.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Someone I'm chatting w/ who deals with this stuff on a regular basis wondered how long it takes for YouTube to hash a video like this. Being able to hash these videos, leads to easier tracking, algorithmic enforcement, & takedowns. It's been at least 2 hours since the incident.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
A Reddit spokesperson told me they're actively taking down all links associated with the video "as they become aware of them" because they violate its policy around glorifying violence. Comments from Redditors providing context on what happened will not be taken down.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
As follow ups, I've asked YouTube how long it takes for them to hash troubling videos. I've also asked Facebook how much time elapsed between the shooter starting his livestream to the police notifying them of the video and them taking it down. Will update if I get answers.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
YouTube declined to comment on how long it takes them to hash troubling videos. Here's a screenshot of a video that went up 9 mins ago that shows the full incident. This took me less than 30 seconds to find.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Correction: The above video apparently has removed the most graphic shooting scenes, but still shows the shooter firing his weapon and victims right before they were hit.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Despite Twitter's earlier commitment to taking down the video I'm still seeing clips, including one shared from a verified account with 694K followers. I'm not sharing it here, but it's been up for two hours.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
This morning I'm still seeing examples of the video on Twitter and YouTube that folks are DMing me. It seems like users are getting around YouTube's roadblocks by uploading in different languages. Just saw one in Indonesian that's been up for at least an hour.
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Ryan Mac 🙃
@RMac18
Facebook has a new statement noting that they’re fingerprinting versions of the video to allow for it to be automaticlly taken down. They declined to say how long it took them to take down the original live stream after being notified by the police.
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