Facebook Removing Posts Celebrating or Supporting the Atlanta Shootings

After the recent shooting in Atlanta, Facebook has stepped up and said that they will be removing any posts that celebrate the shootings or the suspected shooter.   

In the Atlanta attack, eight people were killed, seven of the victims of the shooting were women, and six were of Asian descent.  

The social media giant has labeled the shooting to be a “violating event.” Previously, this classification has only be used for the US Capitol riots this year in January. This new classification is now a part of the company’s expanded policies on Dangerous Individuals and Organizations.  

Facebook said that they want to remove any content from their platforms that celebrate acts of violence.    

Also Read: Report Says A Fifth Of Facebook Employees Are Working on VR and AR    

Last August, the social media giant noted that it wanted to address movements “that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts.”   

This means that they want to remove content that “have demonstrated significant risks to public safety but do not meet the rigorous criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and banned from having any presence on our platform.”  

However, with Facebook moderation, we are still not exactly clear on what criteria the company is applying.   

A Facebook spokesperson said that the company would remove content that supports, praises, or represents the shooting. However, they failed to offer a proper explanation, not further details.  

The company even claims to have found and removed an Instagram account that they believe was linked to the alleged shooter. However, they even said that this account had been inactive for some time.   

Meanwhile, the company has said that they would temporarily stop new account registration with the same name as the suspected shooter on Facebook and Instagram. This step will presumably limit the creation of misinformation.   

The company also said that they are working with a law enforcement agency to help their investigations into the shooting.