A terrifying incident unfolded in Chicago recently two days. A 15-year-old girl missing since Sunday was sexually assaulted by several young men, and the attack was streamed live on Facebook.
The video clip came down from Facebook after a Chicago police order. However, there were about 40 people, none of whom called the authorities to report it.
The girl found herself on Tuesday and returned to her mother, but the perpetrators remain inconceivable. This naturally raises several questions:
For starters, why didn't any of the 40 viewers of the live stream call the police? Facebook doesn't seem to necessarily have characteristics to block such videos, but none of the viewers thought to report it to the company. The company released the following statement:
"Crimes like this are horrible and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook. We take our responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook and will remove videos that depict sexual abuse or glorify violence. ”
But what about the exchange of information with law enforcement authorities on attackers who still escape arrest?
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Al Jazeera that to find out who uploaded the video, investigators would have to subpoena Facebook and "prove connection of the live stream with the criminals.” At this time, as we mentioned above, there are no suspects and no arrests have been made in this incident.
Next, is it what makes people want to broadcast their heinous crimes? Adrenaline; or the desire of a statement? According to Wall Street journal, Facebook live has been used to broadcast at least 50 acts of violence, including murder. Is a stronger reporting system on Facebook's part enough to prevent such acts?
Ultimately, we should recognize that livestreamed violence is a growing phenomenon that we must fight immediately.