YouTube should suspend all uploads if it cannot stop the spread of footage from the New Zealand terror attack on its platform, a senior British politician has said.
On Friday a gunman live-streamed a murderous rampage through two mosques in Christchurch with a head-mounted camera. At least 49 people were killed in the attack, which has been described as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days” by the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.
The livestream was kept on Facebook for 17 minutes before being taken down, however copies have quickly spread across the internet – with many social media sites struggling to keep them from being uploaded.
At the time of writing, the footage was still easily available to view on YouTube and Facebook, hours after the attack took place.
In a post on Twitter the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, called on YouTube to “suspend all new uploads at this time” if the company could not stop the video from being put on its website.
Watson also criticised the company for adding an “inappropriate content” warning to the footage, adding: “If broadcasting mass murder is not a violation of YouTube’s terms of service, then what is?”
A spokeswoman for the British prime minister also addressed the issue on Friday, saying all media companies need to “act quickly to remove terrorist content”.
“There should be no safe spaces for terrorists to share and promote their extreme views,” she added.
Home secretary Sajid Javid joined the criticism and called on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google to “do more” to stop the spread of extremism on their platforms.
A spokesperson from YouTube’s parent company, Google, said: “Our hearts go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy.
“Shocking, violent and graphic content has no place on our platforms, and is removed as soon as we become aware of it.
“As with any major tragedy, we will work cooperatively with the authorities.”
The company advised any users to flag videos they believe break their terms of service.
Facebook New Zealand spokeswoman Mia Garlick said in a statement: “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and the community affected by this horrendous act.
“New Zealand police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the livestream commenced and we quickly removed both the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video.
“We’re also removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware. We will continue working directly with New Zealand police as their response and investigation continues.”
Authorities in New Zealand have also urged people to not share the footage online.
Ardern repeated the police’s call in a press conference after the attack. She said: “We should not be perpetuating, sharing, giving any oxygen to this act of violence and the message that is sitting behind it.”
“What all of us can at least do is ensure that we do not share, spread or actively engage in that message of hate.”
News organisations across the world published clips of the livestream in their coverage of the attack. In the UK, some tabloid newspapers came under intense criticism for featuring sections from the footage in their online articles.
This led to the Mirror removing all of the footage from its website and the editor issued an apology, although at the time of writing its website was still using stills taken from the livestream.
Lloyd Embley said on Twitter: “We should not have carried this. It is not in line with our policy relating to terrorist propaganda videos.”
The Mail Online was also criticised for publishing a 72-page manifesto the shooter reportedly posted online alongside his attack. Both the manifesto and the footage from the livestream have now been removed from its website.
The Mail Online has been approached for comment.
At the time of writing, the Sun is the only major British tabloid to still carry footage from the livestream on its website, which has been cut together with different clips from other sources.
A spokesman for the newspaper said: “We recognise that in the aftermath of horrific events such as these there will be sensitivities around reporting, and we take those responsibilities seriously.
“We have thought long and hard about how much of the easily available material currently on social media we should host on our site in order to shed light on this barbarous attack and the twisted ‘motive’ behind it.
“We have not published any video which depicts any act of violence, nor have we published or linked to the hate-filled manifesto.”