Parker Complains to FTC on Facebook Murder Videos
Facebook and Instagram illegally deceive users and the government by hosting murder videos violating their terms of service, gun safety advocate Andy Parker alleged in an FTC complaint Tuesday. Testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen last week confirmed Facebook can remove videos but doesn't because it's not in the company’s financial interest, Parker told reporters at the National Press Club. He filed a similar complaint in 2020 against Google and YouTube (see 2002200049). These stem from a video of Parker’s daughter Alison, a reporter who was assassinated on live TV in 2015 (see 2002030059).
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Facebook and Instagram lie to the government and consumers, said Georgetown Law professor Aderson Francois, who helped prepare the filing. Videos of Parker’s murder remain “easily accessible” on both platforms, he said.
“These videos violate our policies and we are continuing to remove them from the platform as we have been doing since this disturbing incident first occurred," a Facebook spokesperson emailed. "We are also continuing to proactively detect and remove visually similar videos when they are uploaded.” The FTC didn’t comment.
Lack of action contradicts comments from Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, said Francois. Coalition for a Safer Web President Marc Ginsberg sent a letter to Sandberg about the video resurfacing in February 2020, said Parker. She responded saying the platform would remove the content, but the videos are still up, said Parker. Coalition Vice President-Content Moderation Eric Feinberg, who has kept tabs on the videos, noted during the news conference that Sandberg told the group to notify the platform if more videos surface. Facebook wants the public to self-police, but the company ignores the reporting from users, said Parker.
Because of liability protections under Communications Decency Act Section 230, the only recourse is to complain to the FTC, said Parker. The group hasn’t gotten a response from the agency since filing its complaint against Google in 2020, said Parker. The Georgetown team continues to update the FTC with more information, he said: “So far, it’s been crickets.”
If the agency decides the company is misleading consumers, it has the ability to write a report, fine the companies and make changes, said Francois: “The FTC isn’t entirely powerless.” He noted internal processes are “fairly opaque,” and investigators don’t inform complainants about developments.
If the commission acts, hopefully Congress will act as well, said Parker. He noted Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked Google Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Karan Bhatia in August 2019 if the videos of the murder had been removed. Bhatia said yes, which Parker said is false. Google didn’t comment now. Congress has seen the same “parade of questions” and answers at congressional hearings since then, particularly with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said Parker: “Enough with the hearings. Do your jobs.”
Francois said the videos show the initial gunshots, include audio of the victims’ screams, murder of the cameraman, and the gunman walking through the frame. Facebook “claims that it does its best to remove its videos when they’re flagged, but the truth of the matter is it has never done so,” said Francois. “It has refused to do so because it is in its interest to get more clicks and to make more profits if these videos remain.”