Facebook users are outraged over a child pornography video that has gone viral. According to Gawker, the video received over 32,000 shares and 5,000 likes on the social media site before Facebook finally took it down. Allegedly, the video and subsequent screenshots were up for eight hours on Facebook before it was taken down.
The video featured an adult man and an infant girl.
Facebook issued a statement about the video to The Independent, saying:
Nothing is more important to Facebook than the safety of the people that use our site, and this material has no place on Facebook. We have zero tolerance for child pornography being uploaded onto Facebook and are extremely aggressive in preventing and removing child exploitive content. We are pleased that this material was reported to us quickly enabling its swift removal.
Users turned to Twitter to express their disgust with the video. Here are some examples:
People on facebook are so ignorant. Sharing that child abuse video.
— Eliza (@RedheadEliza) March 22, 2013
1 thing I hate about Facebook.People will post a video of a child being raped, then say This is so sick...Why you post it in the 1st place?
— Brittany Byrd (@Britta_Nicole) March 22, 2013
I'm done with Facebook dude. People are currently using a child molestation video to get likes. I can't even describe how I feel right now.
— A$AP Triggs. (@ItWas_Triggs) March 22, 2013
Ok I've had it with my Facebook people, really, y'all repost a video of a child getting molested like its ok? I'm blocking whoever post it!
— Bejean Horowitz (@MalibuDollFace) March 21, 2013
After that video i don't know if I wanna get on Facebook anymore, they shouldn't allow child pornography
— Alejandra(@_Alejandez) March 22, 2013
Users are horrified over the idea that such a video would be shared instead of just being reported to the Facebook police. It seems like the issue of child pornography has been around for awhile. In 2011, a petition was started on Causes.com asking Facebook to stop all child pornography. The group "Men Against Prostitution And Trafficking," or MENAPAT, started the cause in an effort to force Facebook to solve this ugly issue, since they felt that Facebook and it's team were failing to do so. According to the petition's "About Me" page, Charlotte Carnevale, Facebook's Safety Team Leader, told the leaders of the petition that, when it comes to child pornography, "there's plenty of it" on the social media site. The cause has almost a million and a half members.
A similar issue arose when anti-Semitic tweets appeared on Twitter. The Union of Jewish French students sued Twitter to divulge the identity of users who were tweeting anti-Semetic remarks on the social media site (France has laws preventing anti-hate speech). Twitter had 15 days to comply, but didn't and the UEFJ has sued Twitter for $50 million.
Should the Facebook users who shared the video be charged with distributing child pornography? This Twitter user thinks they should be:
Everyone that shared that Facebook video should be brought up on charges for distributing child porn.
— §hannon (@heresmytruth) March 22, 2013
