In a statement today, Facebook said it will review its content moderation system after a video showing a deadly shooting stayed on the site for hours.
A manhunt is under way after the release of the Cleveland-area shooting video, which appeared to show a man identified by police as Steve Stephens approaching and shooting 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. The company said in today’s statement that it took more than an hour and 45 minutes for the video to be reported after it was posted.
“We disabled the suspect’s account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the murder video, and two hours after receiving a report of any kind,” the company said in the statement. “But we know we need to do better.”
Facebook says it uses artificial intelligence systems and “thousands of people around the world” to review content. “We prioritize reports with serious safety implications for our community, and are working on making that review process go even faster,” the company said in the statement.
Facebook also laid out a timeline for the incident, saying the suspect released three videos. The first, which the company said it never received a report for, showed Stephens talking about killing. He soon uploaded the video of the shooting, and then used Facebook Live to confess in a five-minute video. Facebook says it received a report on the live video shortly after it ended.
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