Facebook Live Is Becoming A Gruesome Crime Scene For Murders

A Chicago man may have filmed his own murder on Facebook Live this week.

At the start of the June 15 livestream, Antonio Perkins is seen with a group in front of a house. Six minutes later, an apparent blast of gunfire can be heard, and the 28-year-old collapses. The video screen goes dark, but cries fill the rest of the 14-minute video, until authorities arrive at the scene.

Perkins, who also goes by the name Cicero Yayo, was pronounced dead that night. Now Chicago police are looking at the video, the Chicago Tribune reported on June 16, as a clue to the tragedy.

Facebook Live, which allows users to broadcast live video to followers, has quickly become more than a means of entertainment. It can also offer a window into crimes and accidents everywhere in the world, as they happen.

On March 31, another Chicago man was shot and injured in a Facebook Live video. And on June 13, French ISIL sympathizer Larossi Abballa turned to Facebook Live after murdering a police officer and his partner in Magnanville, France. In the video, he chillingly debated what to do with their three-year-old child, who can also be seen in the video. He also threatened violence at the ongoing Euro 2016 soccer championship.

As soon as Abballa was brought to Facebook’s attention, the social media giant deleted his 12-minute video. However, it has not taken down Perkins’s video—a version remains available on another user’s profile, with a graphic content disclaimer at the start. Facebook did not respond to requests to comment.

Like most social media sites, Facebook usually evaluates disturbing content posted to its platform within 24 hours of a user flagging it. But since the Live feature plays out in real time, violent videos are difficult to find and take down before they go viral.

Other live platforms have struggled with similarly troubling material: An 18-year-old Ohiowoman has been accused of broadcasting her friend’s rape on Feb. 27 on Periscope, Twitter’s live streaming app.

To combat the problem, Facebook is decreasing its reliance on user feedback, and says it will expand the team that reviews live content around the clock.

On June 14, Nicole Mendelsohn,Facebook’s VP of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, suggested that Facebook could become all video in the next five years. If that’s true, it will have to up its game against violent live content.

Culled -Quarzt