Facebook Live becomes the new playground for rapists
What's the story
A 15-year-old girl in Chicago, who went missing while recuperating in a local hospital has finally been found. She was the victim of a gang rape, where her rapists broadcasted the entire unfortunate incident on a Facebook Live video. Sadly, even after her ordeal, there were reports by the family members of the girl being verbally assaulted and ridiculed both online and in person.
Details
Rape at gunpoint gets broadcasted live on Facebook
Three men, between the age bracket of 19 and 25 raped a woman on "Facebook Live" while threatening to shoot her at a gun point if she didn't comply. There were almost 60 people watching this horrific incident, nobody reported it to the police except one woman. The entire episode took place in a closed group within similarly connected audience.
Authorities
What are the authorities up to?
The law enforcement said that they are trying to chalk out a timeline for the events that have taken place to nab the culprits. Facebook said that it has a dedicated team that is available 24*7 to respond and bring down inappropriate live videos, since Facebook Live is still a relatively new format; several improvements are in the process to make it safer.
23 Mar 2017
Who is going to stop this from happening again?
The local authorities had no idea of the incident before the girl went missing from the hospital. The video was not detected by Facebook filters and was only removed when the authorities were directed to do so by the police. There were 40 people who had seen the entire "live" rape but none of them reported it to the authorities.
Previous Records
How safe do you feel on Facebook?
Journalists found and reported dozens of child porn images that they found on Facebook, but only 20% of them were removed. Facebook has a policy against not allowing sex offenders to have a profile. Five such individuals, were discovered, who were convicted yet they had an online presence in Facebook. Instead of thanking these journalists, Facebook reported them to the authorities.
Crime
The borders are slowly getting blurred
Four people were arrested for torturing a mentally unstable man and broadcasting the entire episode live on Facebook. Anthony Perkins, a Chicago resident gets shot in the head and in the neck while recording a video of himself on Facebook Live. An Ohio woman shoots the rape of her friend via Periscope which is the live streaming tool available on Twitter.
Judgement
A step in the right direction to tackle the problem
Germany has threatened to levy fines of as much as 50 million euros if the social media platforms are not able to curb the spread of hate speech, illegal content and fake news. Offending materials should be detected and removed within a span of seven days or there would be severe consequences.