Facebook removed or blocked 1.5 million videos from the social media website that showed a gunman’s attack on two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people, USA Today reported. A spokeswoman for Facebook New Zealand said Sunday that some 300,000 such videos were taken down within 24 hours of the terrorist shooting on Friday. Facebook blocked more than 1.2 videos from the website at the upload stage, she said. The suspected shooter live-streamed the massacre on Facebook and Twitter with a helmet camera. Video footage circulated widely on social media websites and YouTube following the shooting. “Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we’re also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content” Facebook New Zealand spokeswoman Mia Garlick reportedly said. Garlick also claimed the company was working “around the clock” to fight content that violates Facebook’s violence policy. Right before the attack, the suspected shooter uploaded a 74-page manifesto to Twitter, and sent the hate-filled screed to media outlets and officials across the country.
