Meta, a parent company of Facebook, and Twitter announced Friday that they will delete any videos showing the assassination attempt on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo abe.
Social media was abuzz with multiple videos showing Abe being shot twice by a gunman using a double-barreled weapon. Some videos only show the moments just before and after the attack, while others show both.
Abe, who was stepping down in 2020, was gunned down just moments into his speech. He was airlifted to hospital, and later declared dead. The suspect gunman was arrested by police on the spot.
Meta claimed it was deleting videos that depicted the attack at the time and had disabled the suspect’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Meta stated in a prepared statement that “we are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister Japan,”
“We don’t tolerate violence on our platform and we won’t tolerate it.” We are working to remove violating content from the incident to keep our platform safe,” it stated.
Meta stated that it took appropriate action under its policy regarding dangerous individuals and that it is labelling still photographs of the attack “disturbing.”
Twitter stated that its enforcement teams were working to “address harmful content” in relation to the attack by “proactively taking down” material that violates its rules. These restrictions include graphic violence and sensitive media restrictions.
Twitter asked users to report any attack against Abe they feel should be considered sensitive, so that it can take appropriate action.
