tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/facebook-livestreaming-40180/articlesFacebook livestreaming – The Conversation2021-07-19T18:31:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1628042021-07-19T18:31:19Z2021-07-19T18:31:19ZWhy livestreamers should sell their products with a poker face – not a smile<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410234/original/file-20210707-27-6vm2l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=105%2C0%2C1692%2C956&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">That smile may hurt sales. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshot</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Smiling or exhibiting other positive emotional displays while selling a product over live video – known as livestreaming – makes people less likely to buy it, we found in <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/00222429211013042">new research published in the Journal of Marketing</a>.</p>
<p>Livestreaming through channels such as Amazon Live and QVC <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/04/going-live-online-the-state-of-live-streaming-and-the-opportunities-for-brands/?sh=359cedb34b97">is an increasingly popular way</a> to sell goods online. In segments that usually last somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes, someone pitches a product. Viewers can then readily buy it by clicking on a link.</p>
<p>We analyzed 99,451 sales pitches on a livestream retailing platform and matched them with actual sales transactions. In terms of duration, that is the equivalent of over 2 million 30-second television advertisements. </p>
<p>To determine the emotional expression of the salesperson, we used two deep learning models: a face detection model and an emotion classification model. The face detection model discovers the presence or absence of a face in a frame of a video stream. The emotions classifier then determines the probability that a face is exhibiting any of the <a href="https://online.uwa.edu/infographics/basic-emotions/">six basic human emotions</a>: happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, fear or disgust. For example, smiling signals a high probability of happiness, while a scowling expression usually points toward anger. </p>
<p>We wanted to see the impact of emotions expressed at different times in the sales pitch so we computed probabilities for each emotion for all 62 million image frames in our dataset. We then combined these probabilities with other possible variables that might drive sales – such as price and product characteristics – to isolate the effect of emotion. </p>
<p>We found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, when salespeople convey more negative emotions – such as anger and disgust – the volume of sales went down. But we also found that a similar thing happened when the sales pitch involved high levels of positive emotional displays, such as happiness or surprise. </p>
<p>A likely explanation, based on prior research, is that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.70.3.058?journalCode=jmxa">smiling can be off-putting</a> because it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.10.002">lacks authenticity</a> and can reduce trust in the seller. A seller’s happiness may be taken as a sign that the seller is gaining in the negotiation at the customer’s expense.</p>
<p>We found that the negative effects on sales are the strongest when people express emotion in the middle rather than at the beginning or the end of sales pitches. A potential reason for this finding is that viewers might expect more emotion at the beginning of the pitch, when a salesperson is introducing a product, and at the end, when she’s closing the sale. The middle is typically when the salesperson offers more detail about the product, and it’s likely viewers are turned off by emotion at this point in the pitch. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Business majors and future salespeople are typically taught to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3069445">provide service with a smile</a>. Service providers such as bank tellers and waiters are encouraged to smile in order to get good customer outcomes. </p>
<p>And even in our data, salespeople were smiling for almost a quarter of the time. Our research challenges this notion and replaces it with a new maxim: Sell with a straight face. </p>
<p>To our knowledge, this marketing study is the first to assess the sales impact of the presence of a salesperson’s face and emotional displays.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We don’t know if our findings translate to in-person sales. </p>
<p>The main reason why this is unknown is because it is very hard to observe sales interactions in the field. For example, we cannot go and record how salespeople at a car dealership sell cars on a large scale. </p>
<p>There is some smaller-scale, in-person <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0022242921999603">evidence based on surveys</a> that appearing calm – perhaps with a straight face – builds rapport, which in turn drives sales performance outcomes. It remains to be seen if these findings translate to a natural field experiment.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study found that sales went down when salespeople conveyed emotion during their pitch – including expressions of happiness.Michel Ballings, Assistant Professor of Business Analytics, University of TennesseeNeeraj Bharadwaj, Professor of Marketing, University of TennesseePrasad Naik, Professor of Marketing, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556132021-04-05T12:36:41Z2021-04-05T12:36:41ZHow social media turns online arguments between teens into real-world violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393384/original/file-20210405-19-cxu2bq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C6%2C4495%2C2994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Comments and livestreams can lead to physical fights, shootings and even death.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustration-the-instagram-clubhouse-whatsapp-news-photo/1231819878?adppopup=true">Photo illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The deadly <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-it-a-coup-no-but-siege-on-us-capitol-was-the-election-violence-of-a-fragile-democracy-152803">insurrection at the U.S. Capitol</a> in January exposed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/far-right-activists-on-social-media-telegraphed-violence-weeks-in-advance-of-the-attack-on-the-us-capitol-152861">power of social media</a> to influence real-world behavior and incite violence. But many adolescents, who spend <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/">more time on social media</a> than all other age groups, have known this for years. </p>
<p>“On social media, when you argue, something so small can turn into something so big so fast,” said Justin, a 17-year-old living in Hartford, Connecticut, during one of my research focus groups. (The participants’ names have been changed in this article to protect their identities.)</p>
<p>For the last three years, I have studied how and why <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YsvEJFoAAAAJ&hl=en">social media triggers and accelerates offline violence</a>. <a href="https://ssw.uconn.edu/person/caitlin-elsaesser-phd/">In my research</a>, conducted in partnership with Hartford-based peace initiative <a href="http://www.compassyc.org/">COMPASS Youth Collaborative</a>, we interviewed dozens of young people aged 12-19 in 2018. Their responses made clear that social media is not a neutral communication platform.</p>
<p>In other words, social media isn’t just mirroring conflicts happening in schools and on streets – it’s intensifying and triggering new conflicts. And for young people who live in disenfranchised urban neighborhoods, where firearms can be readily available, this dynamic can be deadly. </p>
<h2>Internet banging</h2>
<p>It can result in a phenomenon that <a href="https://techpolicypodcast.org/social-media-and-gang-violence/">researchers at Columbia University</a> have coined “internet banging.” Distinct from cyberbullying, internet banging involves taunts, disses and arguments on social media between people in rival crews, cliques or gangs. These exchanges can include comments, images and videos that lead to physical fights, shootings and, in the worst cases, <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/west-philadelphia-shootings-homicide-rates-instagram-feuds-20210316.html">death</a>.</p>
<p>It is estimated that the typical U.S. teen uses screen media <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2019">more than seven hours</a> daily, with the average teenager daily using three different forms of social media. Films such as “<a href="https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/">The Social Dilemma</a>” underscore that social media companies create addictive platforms by design, using features such as unlimited scrolling and push notifications to keep users endlessly engaged. </p>
<p>According to the young people we interviewed, four social media features in particular escalate conflicts: comments, livestreaming, picture/video sharing and tagging. </p>
<h2>Comments and livestreams</h2>
<p>The feature most frequently implicated in social media conflicts, according to our research with adolescents, was comments. Roughly 80% of the incidents they described involved comments, which allow social media users to respond publicly to content posted by others. </p>
<p>Taylor, 17, described how comments allow people outside her friend group to “hype up” online conflicts: “On Facebook if I have an argument, it would be mostly the outsiders that’ll be hypin’ us up … ‘Cause the argument could have been done, but you got outsiders being like, 'Oh, she gonna beat you up.’”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, livestreaming can quickly attract a large audience to watch conflict unfold in real time. Nearly a quarter of focus group participants implicated Facebook Live, for example, as a feature that escalates conflict.</p>
<p>Brianna, 17, shared an example in which her cousin told another girl to come to her house to fight on Facebook Live. “But mind you, if you got like 5,000 friends on Facebook, half of them watching … And most of them live probably in the area you live in. You got some people that’ll be like, ‘Oh, don’t fight.’ But in the majority, everybody would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, fight.’” </p>
<p>She went on to describe how three Facebook “friends” who were watching the livestream pulled up in cars in front of the house with cameras, ready to record and then post any fight. </p>
<h2>Strategies to stop violence</h2>
<p>Adolescents tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412471347">define themselves through peer groups</a> and are highly attuned to slights to their reputation. This makes it difficult to resolve social media conflicts peacefully. But the young people we spoke with are highly aware of how social media shapes the nature and intensity of conflicts. </p>
<p>A key finding of our work is that young people often try to avoid violence resulting from social media. Those in our study discussed four approaches to do so: avoidance, deescalation, reaching out for help and bystander intervention.</p>
<p>Avoidance involves exercising self-control to avoid conflict in the first place. As 17-year-old Diamond explained, “If I’m scrolling and I see something and I feel like I got to comment, I’ll go [to] comment and I’ll be like, ‘Hold up, wait, no.’ And I just start deleting it and tell myself … ‘No, mind my business.’” </p>
<p>Reaching out for support involves turning to peers, family or teachers for help. “When I see conflict, I screenshot it and send it to my friends in our group chat and laugh about it,” said Brianna, 16. But there’s a risk in this strategy, Brianna noted: “You could screenshot something on Snapchat, and it’ll tell the person that you screenshot it and they’ll be like, ‘Why are you screenshotting my stuff?’” </p>
<p>The deescalation strategy involves attempts by those involved to slow down a social media conflict as it happens. However, participants could not recount an example of this strategy working, given the intense pressure they experience from social media comments to protect one’s reputation.</p>
<p>They emphasized the bystander intervention strategy was most effective offline, away from the presence of an online audience. A friend might start a conversation offline with an involved friend to help strategize how to avoid future violence. Intervening online is often risky, according to participants, because the intervener can become a new target, ultimately making the conflict even bigger.</p>
<h2>Peer pressure goes viral</h2>
<p>Young people are all too aware that the number of comments a post garners, or how many people are watching a livestream, can make it extremely difficult to pull out of a conflict once it starts. </p>
<p>Jasmine, a 15-year-old, shared, “On Facebook, there be so many comments, so many shares and I feel like the other person would feel like they would be a punk if they didn’t step, so they step even though they probably, deep down, really don’t want to step.” </p>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-congress-tech/update-4-big-tech-ceos-told-time-for-self-regulation-is-over-by-us-lawmakers-idUSL1N2LN2JO">growing consensus</a> across both major U.S. political parties that the large technology companies behind social media apps need to be more tightly regulated. Much of the concern has focused on the <a href="https://time.com/5933989/facebook-oversight-regulating-social-media/">dangers of unregulated free speech</a>. </p>
<p>But from the vantage point of the adolescents we spoke with in Hartford, conflict that occurs on social media is also a public health threat. They described multiple experiences of going online without the intention to fight, and getting pulled into an online conflict that ended up in gun violence. Many young people are improvising strategies to avoid social media conflict. I believe parents, teachers, policymakers and social media engineers ought to listen closely to what they are saying.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin Elsaesser receives funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</span></em></p>Social media isn’t just mirroring conflicts happening in schools and on streets – it’s intensifying and triggering new disputes.Caitlin Elsaesser, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1372472020-04-28T05:19:56Z2020-04-28T05:19:56ZTogether we rise: East Arnhem Land artists respond to COVID-19 with the gift of music<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330653/original/file-20200427-145499-y9vme2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C42%2C4007%2C2094&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu sings. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/VisitEastArnhemLand/photos/a.311490989046835/1431484573714132/?type=3&theater">Facebook/Yolŋu Radio</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent weeks have been a blur of livestreams as politicians and chief medical officers have taken to Facebook and YouTube to announce Australia’s emergency measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>But on Saturday evening, I eagerly logged onto Facebook, along with more than 50,000 others, to enjoy a livestream of an entirely different kind. It was the first in a series of four <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/east-arnhem-live">East Arnhem Live</a> music concerts to be streamed weekly.</p>
<p>It not only offers a welcome respite from the social isolation many Australians are now feeling, but it is also an ingenious way for Arnhem Land’s prolific musicians to share their music with audiences around the world.</p>
<h2>On location</h2>
<p>The Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land is home to dozens of remote Indigenous communities, including the <a href="https://doi-org.proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/10.1111/1467-9655.00024">Yolŋu communities</a> in the far northeast. While there are presently no known cases of COVID-19 in Arnhem Land, the region’s economic stability relies heavily on artists’ income, which is greatly supported by local tourism during the dry season and international touring to festivals all year round.</p>
<p>Streamed on Saturday, April 24 and still available <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/east-arnhem-live">online</a>, the first East Arnhem Live concert featured singer <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/blog/eight-east-arnhem-land-artists-to-add-to-your-playlist">Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu</a>, the current frontman of rock band Yothu Yindi, with Arian Pearson on acoustic guitar. To showcase Arnhem Land’s natural beauty, the concert was filmed on location at <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/BgrvMi9dobH3478Z8">Gälaru (East Woody Beach)</a> against the sun setting over the Arafura Sea, and incorporated stunning aerial cinematography of Dhamitjinya (East Woody Island).</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330654/original/file-20200427-145518-1lrkrwv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">East Arnhem Live with Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu and Arian Pearson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span>
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<p>At a length of four songs over 14 minutes, it was a tantalisingly brief event that left me wanting more. It stirred deep nostalgia for my own experiences in Arnhem Land over the past 25 years and long collaborations with local musicians there.</p>
<p>Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu’s four-song set exemplified the very best of Yolŋu songwriting, building significantly on the heavy traditional influences of the style developed by Yothu Yindi around 1990. The influence of Manikay, the ancestral song tradition performed by Yolŋu communities in their public ceremonies, is ever-present in Yirrŋa’s own songs. This is evidenced by the <em>bi<u>l</u>ma</em> (paired sticks) he played throughout the concert.</p>
<p>With no more than a few hundred senior Yolŋu Manikay singers alive today, the present threat of COVID-19 brings into sharp relief the rarity and uniqueness of Manikay as a quintessentially Australian musical tradition. This is indeed a national treasure of global significance that deserves to be better supported and cherished in Australia and globally.</p>
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<h2>An anthem for our time</h2>
<p>The concert’s opening song was Sweet Arnhem Land, a balladic ode to the region’s immense beauty that includes a direct quote from the Manikay repertoire of Yirrŋa’s clan, the Gumatj. This Manikay quotation references the great ancestral hunter, Ganbulapula, and its melody should be instantly recognisable to anyone who has attended the Garma Festival and experienced public ceremonial repertoire being performed there by the Gumatj clan.</p>
<p>The second song was a cover of Kind of Life, which was first released by Yothu Yindi on the 1991 Tribal Voice album. It was a fitting homage to earlier pioneers of popular music from Arnhem Land, such as Wi<u>t</u>iyana Marika and the late Mandawuy Yunupiŋu AC of Yothu Yindi, who were the first to gain global acclaim.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/my-favourite-album-yothu-yindis-tribal-voice-83643">My favourite album: Yothu Yindi's Tribal Voice</a>
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<p>The third song, We Rise, is nothing short of an anthemic triumph. Its stirring sentiment of solidarity in the face of great change and adversity will readily resonate with many Australians at this challenging time. </p>
<p>Yirrŋa’s final song, Ba<u>n</u>umbirr (Morning Star), pays respect to his mother’s clan, the Rirratjiŋu. Once again, it includes a direct quote from traditional Manikay repertoire, which this time comes from the Rirratjiŋu clan’s iconic Morning Star song series.</p>
<p>With more than 53,000 views on Facebook since Saturday night, this first East Arnhem Live concert has been an outstanding success. While I greatly look forward to the day when I can fly to Arnhem Land again to see dear friends and hear music there in person, this concert series is a most welcome substitute that offers an unexpectedly intimate and poignant experience. And it shares the great beauty of Yolŋu song against the backdrop of the natural environment from which it sprung.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-indigenous-songs-recount-deep-histories-of-trade-between-australia-and-southeast-asia-123867">Friday essay: how Indigenous songs recount deep histories of trade between Australia and Southeast Asia</a>
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<h2>Tradition and innovation</h2>
<p>The Yolŋu people have long engaged with new technologies while retaining their own sense of autonomy. This latest innovation in streaming concerts via social media platforms is in keeping with their pre-colonial exchanges with visiting Asian seafarers. </p>
<p>It was this same longitudinal dialogue between tradition and innovation that made the music of bands like Yothu Yindi possible.</p>
<p>Musicians Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu and Arian Pearson are to be congratulated heartily for this first East Arnhem Live concert, as are the series’ presenters at ARDS Aboriginal Corporation and Yolŋu Radio, and sponsors at Rirratjiŋu Aboriginal Corporation and Developing East Arnhem. </p>
<p>The next three Saturday nights promise to be equally special with unmissable concerts by the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band on May 2 and Yirrmal Marika on May 9, and an unprecedented closing stream of traditional ceremony by the Rirratjiŋu clan on May 16.</p>
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<p><em>The next three East Arnhem Live concerts will stream on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VisitEastArnhemLand/">East Arnhem Land Facebook page</a> at 6.30 pm ACST on Saturday, May 2, May 9 and May 16.</em></p>
<p><em>Charles Darwin University’s <a href="http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies/gupaappdownload.html">Gupapuyŋu App</a> provides a Yolŋu language pronunciation guide that is free to download.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Readers are advised that this article names a deceased founding member of Yothu Yindi with all traditional Yolŋu mortuary restrictions having been lifted by his family long ago. Aaron Corn receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a Director of the not-for-profit National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia. Aaron Corn explores the music of Yothu Yindi in his book, Reflections & Voices (2009), published by Sydney University Press.</span></em></p>A series of four live-streamed concerts from Arnhem Land offers a welcome break from bad news and a way for Indigenous musicians to share their talents with the world.Aaron Corn, Professor, Elder Conservatorium of Music · Director, Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) · Director, National Centre for Aboriginal Language and Music Studies (NCALMS), Faculty of Arts, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1189872019-06-18T20:53:28Z2019-06-18T20:53:28ZWith cryptocurrency launch, Facebook sets its path toward becoming an independent nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280095/original/file-20190618-118530-1j9hjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C12%2C756%2C465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The world's newest country?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-24607922-facebook-company-flag-waving-slow-motion-against">railway fx/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facebook has announced a plan to launch <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">a new cryptocurrency named the Libra</a>, adding another layer to its efforts to dominate global communications and business. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">Backed by huge finance and technology companies</a> including Visa, Spotify, eBay, PayPal and Uber – plus a ready-made <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/">user base of 2 billion people</a> around the world – Facebook is positioned to pressure countries and central banks to cooperate with its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">reinvention of the global financial system</a>.</p>
<p>In my view as a <a href="https://newhouse.syr.edu/faculty-staff/jennifer-grygiel">social media researcher and educator</a>, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is clearly seeking to give his company even more <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41375924">political power on a global scale</a>, despite the potential dangers to society at large. In a sense, he is declaring that he wants Facebook to become a virtual nation, populated by users, powered by a self-contained economy, and headed by a CEO – Zuckerberg himself – who is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/30/18644755/facebook-stock-shareholder-meeting-mark-zuckerberg-vote">not even accountable to his shareholders</a>.</p>
<p>Facebook <a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-giants-didnt-deserve-public-trust-in-the-first-place-106989">hasn’t behaved responsibly</a> in the past, and is still wrestling with significant public concerns – and investigations – about its <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/facebook-investigations-by-eu-ireland-regulator-nearing-conclusions.html">privacy practices</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-facebooks-effort-to-fight-fake-news-human-fact-checkers-play-a-supporting-role-1539856800">information accuracy</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/17/eu-tells-facebooks-nick-clegg-to-rethink-ad-funding-rules">targeted advertising</a>. Therefore, it’s important to see through the hype. People must <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/586053?seq=1">consider who is reshaping the world</a>, and whether they are doing it in the best interests of humankind – or whether they are just seeking to benefit the new class of elite technology executives. </p>
<p>Humanity needs ethical leadership, and time to think through the potential repercussions of rapid technological change. That’s why, in my view, Facebook’s cryptocurrency <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">should be blocked</a> by financial regulators until its design has been proved to be safe for all of global society.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280098/original/file-20190618-118526-1jvkige.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">You might not want to trust this man.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_F8_2018_Keynote_(41118893354).jpg">Anthony Quintano/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Understanding Libra</h2>
<p>Technology companies are interested in a <a href="https://qz.com/1642172/jack-dorsey-on-bitcoin-facebooks-crypto-and-the-end-of-cash/">global currency that is native to the internet</a>. That could allow companies like Facebook and Twitter to bring in more users to their platforms, and <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/nouriel-roubini-says-facebooks-globalcoin-has-nothing-to-do-with-crypto">collect money</a> from <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/">businesses who want to join</a> the new system. They also want to <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/what-facebooks-cryptocurrency-push-means-51560539185">siphon off business from the existing financial services industry</a>. That sector is worth <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/030515/what-percentage-global-economy-comprised-financial-services-sector.asp">trillions of dollars</a>, is enormously profitable, and yet has <a href="http://fortune.com/2018/06/07/blockchain-firm-r3-is-running-out-of-money-sources-say/">struggled to implement its own digital currency</a>.</p>
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<p>The technical details of Facebook’s plans are still emerging, but it seems that the company is not seeking to compete with <a href="https://www.capmktsreg.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CCMR_statement_Blockchain_Securities_Settlement-Final.pdf">Bitcoin</a> or other <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/technology/cryptocurrency-facebook-telegram.html">cryptocurrencies</a>. Rather, Facebook is looking to replace the existing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">global financial system</a> with an all-new setup, with Libra at its center.</p>
<p>The company may be counting on increased public interest in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/geraldfenech/2019/01/17/what-is-plaguing-the-cryptocurrency-market/#7e7a0abd4edf">cryptocurrencies and financial technologies</a>, and its market strength, to overcome objections. However, I don’t believe Facebook should be allowed to <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/what-facebooks-cryptocurrency-push-means-51560539185">wreck the global financial system</a> like it has, as many see it, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-facebook-went-from-friend-to-frenemy-110130">wrecked global communications</a>.</p>
<h2>Speeding global exchange</h2>
<p>There is definitely a need for <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/">smoother, faster and cheaper</a> ways to <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/04/08/record-high-remittances-sent-globally-in-2018">send money around the world</a>, and to provide access to financial services to the many <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jun/18/facebook-libra-launch-cryptocurrency">people who do not have formal bank accounts</a>. There is real potential to Libra, but there are likely to be ways to improve even more, developing a payment system that better serves the world as a whole.</p>
<p>At least at the moment, the Libra is being designed as a form of <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/icelandic-regulators-approve-startups-plan-for-fiat-payments-on-ethereum">electronic money</a> <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d4c1e00c-8dd6-11e9-a24d-b42f641eca37">linked to many national currencies</a>. That has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-18/france-calls-for-central-bank-review-of-facebook-cryptocurrency">raised fears</a> that Libra might someday be recognized as a sovereign currency, with Facebook acting as a “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/libra-pushback-against-facebook-cryptocurrency-begins-2019-6">shadow bank</a>” that could compete with the central banks of countries around the world.</p>
<p>It doesn’t help that Facebook is already positioning itself to evade <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/facebooks-new-crypto-faces-scrutiny-from-european-authorities">regulatory scrutiny</a> by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/18/18682838/facebook-digital-wallet-calibra-libra-cryptocurrency-kevin-weil-david-marcus-interview">creating a corporate subsidiary</a> that will join an <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/calibra_swiss-role-in-facebook-cryptocurrency-project-revealed/45038626">ostensibly independent governing body</a> for the Libra.</p>
<p>To protect consumers, regulators should look carefully at whether the new system supporting the Libra is sound. It may be that an entirely new set of financial rules and regulations is needed to shield the existing financial system from harm if the Libra becomes more popular than national currencies. At the very least, governments need to proceed slowly and carefully when new products may introduce systemic risks into our environment. Even the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/06/14/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-poppy-harlow-zw-orig.cnn">CEO of Google</a> has acknowledged that. In my opinion, Libra’s planned launch in 2020 does not allow enough time to fully vet this technology and its risks.</p>
<h2>Protecting the global financial system</h2>
<p>Financial regulations have developed over time to encourage <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2016/02/07/fincen-know-your-customer-requirements/">trust between unknown parties</a>, and to protect regular customers from fraudsters and corporate greed. There are also rules that help governments prevent and detect <a href="https://www.finra.org/industry/anti-money-laundering">transactions that support crime and terrorism</a>.</p>
<p>This is not to say that all payments and purchases should be tied to a <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2016/02/07/fincen-know-your-customer-requirements/">known entity online or in real life</a>. <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w20126">Cash and anonymity is also a civil right</a> and is key to privacy and personal freedoms. </p>
<p>As new digital financial services, methods of electronic payment and currencies develop and become popular, they should not be allowed to undermine longstanding <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24357502">financial safety systems</a>, even in the name of smoother, cheaper transactions. </p>
<p>My concern is not just about large-volume transactions. Facebook has shown how even small amounts of money can buy <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/17/can-mark-zuckerberg-fix-facebook-before-it-breaks-democracy">microtargeted ads</a> with the power to influence public opinion and election outcomes in the U.S. and around the world.</p>
<h2>Product design and risk assessment</h2>
<p>Facebook has a long history of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/facebook-investigations-by-eu-ireland-regulator-nearing-conclusions.html">questionable business models and privacy practices</a>. The public, and their representatives in government – including elected officials, financial regulators and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/14/18678785/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-visa-mastercard-uber-paypal-stripe-association-consortium">central bank authorities</a> – should carefully scrutinize all aspects of Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans. </p>
<p>This concern is especially urgent because Facebook also has a long history of launching products and services, like political ads and <a href="https://theconversation.com/livestreamed-massacre-means-its-time-to-shut-down-facebook-live-113830">live-streaming video</a>, without fully considering their potential to damage democracy and the global society at large.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Mark Zuckerberg didn’t think enough about how people could use Facebook for ill.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The company has demonstrated its inability to serve society beneficially – and it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.12.003">may not even be interested in trying</a>. All the signals suggest that customers and regulators alike should carefully examine whether Facebook’s Libra is <a href="http://www.people.hbs.edu/rmerton/Financial%20System%20and%20Economic%20Peformance.pdf">truly innovative</a> or just a way to avoid restrictions on a potentially hazardous financial product.</p>
<h2>Defending democracy</h2>
<p>Facebook’s entrance into the financial industry is a threat to democracies and their citizens around the world, on the same scale as disinformation and information warfare, which also depend on social media for their effectiveness.</p>
<p>It may be hard for world leaders to understand that this is an emergency, as they cannot see the virtual powers aligning against them. But they must huddle quickly to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24357502?seq=1">ensure they have</a> – and keep – the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.12.003">power to protect their people</a> from technology companies’ greed.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1140941085885308929"}"></div></p>
<p>It will be key to understand if Facebook’s future cryptocurrency will ultimately function more like anonymous cash, or more like a traceable credit card transaction. Facebook has the blockchain and encryption technology to create an anonymous digital cash-like system, or a private digital currency, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/03/regarding-facebooks-cryptocurrency/">which has not been created yet</a>. Anonymity would heighten the risks of abuse such as money laundering, so it’s worth watching out for a cash-like Facebook cryptocurrency that mirrors the central banks’ cash system.</p>
<p>In addition, I cannot help but reflect on the name that Facebook chose for this, the Libra, which is a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/technology/facebook-cryptocurrency-libra.html">reference to the Roman measurement for a pound</a>, once used to mint coins. In many ways the company that Mark Zuckerberg is building is beginning to look more like a Roman Empire, now with its own central bank and currency, than a corporation. The only problem is that this new nation-like platform is a controlled company and is run more like a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/mark-zuckerbergs-control-of-facebook-is-like-a-dictatorship-calstrs.html">dictatorship</a> than a sovereign country with democratically elected leaders. Even now, the company may have <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/4/9/17214752/zuckerberg-facebook-power-regulation-data-privacy-control-political-theory-data-breach-king">as much power</a> as some countries – and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/15/these-25-companies-are-more-powerful-than-many-countries-multinational-corporate-wealth-power/">more than others</a>.</p>
<p>In the wake of the not too distant <a href="https://www.economist.com/schools-brief/2013/09/07/crash-course">global financial crisis</a>, and the “fake news” and disinformation culture that is developing, people must slow down and fully evaluate disruptive technology of this magnitude. Society cannot withstand a launch of a cryptocurrency in Facebook’s infamous “<a href="https://hbr.org/2019/01/the-era-of-move-fast-and-break-things-is-over">move fast and break things</a>” style.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Grygiel owns a small number of shares in the following social media companies: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Alibaba, LinkedIn, YY and Snap. Grygiel also owns nominal amounts of the following cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum.</span></em></p>With the launch of the Libra cryptocurrency, Mark Zuckerberg reveals his dreams of building a new virtual country, perhaps inspired by the Roman Empire.Jennifer Grygiel, Assistant Professor of Communications (Social Media) & Magazine, News and Digital Journalism, Syracuse UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1149112019-04-04T10:03:34Z2019-04-04T10:03:34ZNew livestreaming legislation fails to take into account how the internet actually works<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267504/original/file-20190404-131404-ctpebk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The new laws could mean internet service providers could end up being forced to surveil the activities of users. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/students-computer-classroom-learning-information-technology-1051929101">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In response to the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-15/christchurch-shooting-live-stream-think-twice-about-watching-it/10907258">live streamed terror attack in New Zealand</a> last month, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s1201">new laws have just been passed</a> by the Australian Parliament. </p>
<p>These laws amend the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A04868">Commonwealth Criminal Code</a>, adding two substantive new criminal offences.</p>
<p>Both are aimed not at terrorists but at technology companies. And how that’s done is where some of the new measures fall down. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/livestreaming-terror-is-abhorrent-but-is-more-rushed-legislation-the-answer-114620">Livestreaming terror is abhorrent – but is more rushed legislation the answer?</a>
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<p>The legislation was rushed through with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-04-04/facebook-youtube-social-media-laws-rushed-and-flawed-critics-say/10965812">neither consultation nor sufficient discussion</a>.</p>
<p>The laws focus on abhorrent violent material, capturing the terrorist incident in New Zealand, but also online content created by a person carrying out a murder, attempted murder, torture, rape or violent kidnapping.</p>
<p>The laws do not cover material captured by third parties who witness a crime, only content from an attacker, their accomplice, or someone who attempts to join the violence.</p>
<p>The aim is to prevent perpetrators of extreme violence from using the internet to glorify or publicise what they have done. This will reduce terrorists’ ability to spread panic and fear. It will reduce criminals’ ability to intimidate. This is about taking away the tools harmful actors use to damage society.</p>
<h2>What the legislation aims to do</h2>
<p>Section 474.33 of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence for any internet service provider, content service or hosting service to fail to notify the Australian Federal Police, within a reasonable time, once they become aware their service is being used to access abhorrent violent material that occurred or is occurring in Australia. Failing to comply can result in a fine of 800 penalty units (currently $128,952).</p>
<p>Section 474.34 makes it a criminal offence for a content service or hosting service, whether inside or outside Australia, to fail to expeditiously take down material made available through their service and accessible in Australia. </p>
<p>The criminal element of fault is not that the service provider deliberately makes the material available, but rather that they are reckless with regards to identifying such content or providing access to it. Reckless, however, has been given a rather special meaning.</p>
<h2>What we’ve got right</h2>
<p>There is a clear need for new laws. </p>
<p>Focusing on regulating technology services is the right approach. Back in 2010 when I <a href="http://oboler.com/papers/time_to_regulate.pdf">first raised this idea</a> it was considered radical; today <a href="https://theconversation.com/zuckerbergs-new-rules-for-the-internet-must-move-from-words-to-actions-114593">even Mark Zuckerberg supports government regulation</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/zuckerbergs-new-rules-for-the-internet-must-move-from-words-to-actions-114593">Zuckerberg's 'new rules' for the internet must move from words to actions</a>
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<p>We’ve <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/11/tim-berners-lee-tech-companies-regulations">moved away</a> from the idea of technology companies of all types being part of a safe harbour that keeps the internet unregulated. That’s to be welcomed.</p>
<p>Penalties for companies that behave recklessly – failing to build suitable mechanisms to find and remove abhorrent violent material – are also to be welcomed. Such systems should indeed be expanded to cover credible threats of violence and major interference in a country’s sovereignty, such as efforts to manipulate elections or cause mass panics through fake news. </p>
<p>Recklessness as it is ordinarily understood – that is, failing to take the steps a reasonable person in the same position would take – allows the standard to slowly rise as technology and systems for responding to such incidents improve.</p>
<p>Also to be welcomed is the new ability for the eSafety Commissioner to issue a notice to a company identifying an item of abhorrent violent material and to demand its removal. When the government is aware of such content, there must be a way to require rapid action. The law does this.</p>
<h2>Where we’ve fallen down</h2>
<p>One potential problem with the legislation is the requirement for internet service providers (ISPs) to notify the Australian Federal Police if they are aware their service can be used to access any particular abhorrent violent material. </p>
<p>As ISPs provide access for consumers to everything on the internet, this seeks to turn ISPs into a national surveillance network. It has the potential to move us from an already problematic <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-accept-government-surveillance-for-now-110789">meta-data retention scheme</a> into an expectation for ISPs to apply deep packet inspection monitoring of everything that is said.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-accept-government-surveillance-for-now-110789">Australians accept government surveillance, for now</a>
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<p>Content services (including social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and regular websites) and hosting services (provided by companies such as <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/small-business/websites-and-ecommerce">Telsta</a>, <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/">Microsoft</a> and <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/">Amazon</a> through to companies like <a href="https://www.serversaustralia.com.au/">Servers Australia</a> and <a href="https://synergywholesale.com/">Synergy Wholesale</a>) have a more serious problem. </p>
<p>Under the new laws, if content is online at the time a notice is issued by the eSafety Commissioner, the legal presumption will be that the company was behaving recklessly at that time. The notice is not a demand to respond, but rather a finding that the response is already too slow. The relevant section (s 474.35(5)) states (emphasis added) that if a notice has been correctly issued:</p>
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<p>…then, in that prosecution, it must be presumed that the person was reckless as to whether the content service could be used to access the specified material <em>at the time the notice was issued</em>…</p>
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<p>While the presumption can be rebutted, this is still quite different from what the <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Media/Pages/Tough-New-Laws-to-protect-Australians-from-Live-Streaming-of-Violent-Crimes.aspx">Attorney General’s press release (dated 4 April 2019) claimed</a>:</p>
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<p>… the e-Safety Commissioner will have the power to issue notices that bring this type of material to the attention of social media companies. As soon as they receive a notice, they will be deemed to be aware of the material, meaning the clock starts ticking for the platform to remove the material or face extremely serious criminal penalties.</p>
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<p>As the law is written, the notice is more of a notification that the clock has already run out of time. It’s like arguing that the occurrence of a terrorist act means “it must be presumed” the government was reckless with regards to prevention. That’s not a fair standard. The idea of the notice starting the clock would in fact be much fairer. </p>
<p>Under this law, a content service provider can be found to have been reckless and to have failed to expeditiously remove content even if no notice was ever issued. In some cases that may be a good thing, but what was passed as law, and what they say they intended, don’t appear to match.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-fix-encryption-laws-the-tech-sector-says-threaten-australian-jobs-110435">Why we need to fix encryption laws the tech sector says threaten Australian jobs</a>
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<p>Hosting services have the worse of it. They provide the space on servers that allows content to appear on the internet. It’s a little like the arrangement between a landlord and a tenant. With hosting plans starting from around $50 a year, there’s no margin to cover monitoring and complaints management. </p>
<p>The new laws suggest hosting services will be acting recklessly if they don’t monitor their clients so they can take action before the eSafety Commissioner issues a notice. They just aren’t in a position to do that.</p>
<h2>A lot still needs to be done</h2>
<p>As it stands, only the expeditious removal of content or suspension of a client’s account can avoid the new offence. The legislation does not define what expeditious removal means. There is nothing to suggest the clock would start only after the service provider becomes aware of the content, and the notice from the eSafety Commissioner doesn’t start a clock but says a response is already over due. </p>
<p>This law is designed to apply pressure on companies so they improve their response times and take preemptive action. </p>
<p>What’s missing too is a target with safe harbour protections, that is, a clear standard and a rule that says if companies can meet that standard they can enjoy an immunity from prosecution under this law. That would give companies both a goal and an incentive to reach it. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-and-regulation-must-work-in-concert-to-combat-hate-speech-online-93072">Technology and regulation must work in concert to combat hate speech online</a>
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<p>Also missing is a way to measure response times. If we can’t measure it, we can’t push for it to be continually improved.</p>
<p>Rapid removal should be required after a notice from the eSafety Commissioner, perhaps removal within an hour. Fast removal, for example within 24 hours, should be required when reports come from the public. </p>
<p>The exact time lines that are possible should be the subject of consultation with both industry and civil society. They need to be achievable, not merely aspirational.</p>
<p>Working together, government, industry and civil society can create systems to monitor and continually improve efforts to tackle online hate and extremism. </p>
<p>That includes the most serious content such as abhorrent violence and incitement to violent extremism. </p>
<p>Trust, consultation and goodwill are needed to keep people safe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andre Oboler is CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute a charity dedicated to tackling online hate and extremism. He is a member of the Australian Government's delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and has received grants to support travel associated with that work. He has received funding for researched related to the use of open source intelligence by government agencies. </span></em></p>The Commonwealth Criminal Code now has two substantive new criminal offences aimed at limiting live streaming of crime. Both target technology companies, not terrorists.Andre Oboler, Senior Lecturer, Master of Cyber-Security Program (Law), La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1146202019-04-02T02:18:09Z2019-04-02T02:18:09ZLivestreaming terror is abhorrent – but is more rushed legislation the answer?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266948/original/file-20190401-177178-1cjkc2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The perpetrator of the Christchurch attacks livestreamed his killings on Facebook.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/photo-bearded-businessman-relaxing-modern-loft-400874902">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the Christchurch attack, the Australian government has <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Media/Pages/Tough-new-laws-to-protect-Australians-from-live-streaming-violent-crimes.aspx">announced</a> its intention to create new criminal offences relating to the livestreaming of violence on social media platforms. </p>
<p>The Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Bill will create two new crimes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It will be a criminal offence for social media platforms not to remove abhorrent violent material expeditiously. This will be punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment or fines that can reach up to 10% of the platform’s annual turnover.</p>
<p>Platforms anywhere in the world must notify the Australian Federal Police if they become aware their service is streaming abhorrent violent conduct that is happening in Australia. A failure to do this will be punishable by fines of up to A$168,000 for an individual or A$840,000 for a corporation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The government is <a href="https://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/ridiculous-timetable-for-social-media-anti-terror-laws-labor-says-20190401-p519k9">reportedly</a> seeking to pass the legislation in the current sitting week of Parliament. This could be the last of the current parliament before an election is called. Labor, or some group of crossbenchers, will need to vote with the government if the legislation is to pass. But the draft bill was only <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/google-rejects-governments-bid-to-force-vetting-of-all-videos/news-story/8ec900839af175e95a6339b8b94e52aa">made available</a> to the Labor Party last night. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that legislation relating to the intersection of technology and law enforcement has been raced through parliament to the consternation of parts of the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/companies-no-longer-comfortable-storing-data-in-australia-microsoft-warns-20190327-p517yz.html">technology industry</a>, and other groups. Ongoing <a href="https://www.innovationaus.com/2019/04/AA-bill-referred-to-independent-monitor">concerns</a> around the Access and Assistance bill demonstrate the risks of such rushed legislation. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/china-bans-streaming-video-as-it-struggles-to-keep-up-with-live-content-80008">China bans streaming video as it struggles to keep up with live content</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Major social networks already moderate violence</h2>
<p>The government has defined “abhorrent violent material” as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] material produced by a perpetrator, and which plays or livestreams the very worst types of offences. It will capture the playing or streaming of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, torture, rape and kidnapping on social media.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The major social media platforms already devote considerable resources to content moderation. They are often criticised for their moderation policies, and the inconsistent application of those policies. But content fitting the government’s definition is already clearly prohibited by <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/violent-threats-glorification">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/promoting_publicizing_crime">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.snap.com/en-US/terms/">Snapchat</a>.</p>
<p>Social media companies rely on a combination of technology, and thousands of people employed as content moderators to remove graphic content. Moderators (usually contractors, often on low wages) are <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona">routinely called on</a> to remove a torrent of abhorrent material, including footage of murders and other violent crimes.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-the-mental-health-of-content-moderators-103830">We need to talk about the mental health of content moderators</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Technology is helpful, but not a solution</h2>
<p>Technologies developed to assist with content moderation are less advanced than one might hope – particularly for videos. Facebook’s own moderation tools are mostly proprietary. But we can get an idea of the state of the commercial art from Microsoft’s <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/content-moderator/overview">Content Moderator API</a>. </p>
<p>The Content Moderator API is an online service designed to be integrated by programmers into consumer-facing communication systems. Microsoft’s tools can automatically recognise “racy or adult content”. They can also identify images similar to ones in a list. This kind of technology <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7x478b/facebook-revenge-porn-nudes">is used by Facebook</a>, in cooperation with the office of the eSafety Comissioner, to help track and block image-based abuse – commonly but erroneously described as “revenge porn”. </p>
<p>The Content Moderator API cannot automatically classify an image, let alone a video, as “abhorrent violent content”. Nor can it automatically identify videos similar to another video.</p>
<p>Technology that could match videos is under development. For example, Microsoft is currently <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2018/09/12/how-photodna-for-video-is-being-used-to-fight-online-child-exploitation/">trialling a matching system</a> specifically for video-based child exploitation material. </p>
<p>As well as developing new technologies themselves, the tech giants are enthusiastic adopters of methods and ideas devised by academic researchers. But they are some distance from being able to automatically identify re-uploads of videos that violate their terms of service, particularly when uploaders modify the video to evade moderators. The ability to automatically flag these videos as they are uploaded or streamed is even more challenging.</p>
<h2>Important questions, few answers so far</h2>
<p>Evaluating the government’s proposed legislative amendments is difficult given that details are scant. I’m a technologist, not a legal academic, but the scope and application of the legislation is currently unclear. Before any legislation is passed, a number of questions need to be addressed - too many to list here, but for instance: </p>
<p>Does the requirement to remove “abhorrent violent material” apply only to material created or uploaded by Australians? Does it only apply to events occurring within Australia? Or could foreign social media companies be liable for massive fines if videos created in a foreign country, and uploaded by a foreigner, were viewed within Australia?</p>
<p>Would attempts to render such material inaccessible from within Australia suffice (even though workarounds are easy)? Or would removal from access anywhere in the world be required? Would Australians be comfortable with a foreign law that required Australian websites to delete content displayed to Australians based on the decisions of a foreign government?</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anxieties-over-livestreams-can-help-us-design-better-facebook-and-youtube-content-moderation-113750">Anxieties over livestreams can help us design better Facebook and YouTube content moderation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Complex legislation needs time</h2>
<p>The proposed legislation does nothing to address the broader issues surrounding promotion of the violent white supremacist ideology that apparently motivated the Christchurch attacker. While that does not necessarily mean it’s a bad idea, it would seem very far from a full governmental response to the monstrous crime an Australian citizen allegedly committed.</p>
<p>It may well be that the scope and definitional issues are dealt with appropriately in the text of the legislation. But considering the government seems set on passing the bill in the next few days, it’s unlikely lawmakers will have the time to carefully consider the complexities involved.</p>
<p>While the desire to prevent further circulation of perpetrator-generated footage of terrorist attacks is noble, taking effective action is not straightforward. Yet again, the federal government’s inclination seems to be to legislate first and discuss later.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114620/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Merkel is a member of the Australian Greens.</span></em></p>Taking effective action against online sharing of graphic content isn’t straightforward. But, yet again, the government’s inclination seems to be to legislate first and discuss later.Robert Merkel, Lecturer in Software Engineering, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1138302019-03-21T10:44:05Z2019-03-21T10:44:05ZLivestreamed massacre means it’s time to shut down Facebook Live<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264745/original/file-20190319-60975-bnaej0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C107%2C5982%2C3880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook Live can be fun – or really scary.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/abstract-blur-facebook-live-badminton-court-610272767">I'm friday/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When word broke that the massacre in New Zealand was livestreamed on Facebook, I immediately thought of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/us/facebook-homicide-victim-trnd/index.html">Robert Godwin Sr.</a> In 2017, Godwin was murdered in Cleveland, Ohio, and initial reports indicated that the attacker streamed it on Facebook Live, at the time a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-rush-to-live-video-facebook-moved-fast-and-broke-things-1488821247">relatively new feature</a> of the social network. Facebook later clarified that the <a href="https://apnews.com/49025de481ae40f8b44896546becb163">graphic video was uploaded after the event</a>, but the incident called public attention to the risks of livestreaming violence. </p>
<p>In the wake of Godwin’s murder, I recommended that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-murder-raises-questions-about-violent-videos-on-facebook/">Facebook Live broadcasts be time-delayed</a>, at least for Facebook users who had told the company they were under 18. That way, adult users would have an opportunity to flag inappropriate content before children were exposed to it. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/04/25/father-livestreams-killing-infant-daughter-facebook-live/100884906/">Facebook Live has broadcast killings</a>, as well as other serious crimes such as <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/heres-how-bad-facebook-lives-violence-problem-is">sexual assault, torture and child abuse</a>. Though the company has hired more than <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/03/technology/facebook-content-moderators/index.html">3,000 additional human content moderators</a>, Facebook is not any better at keeping horrifying violence from streaming live online without any filter or warning for users.</p>
<p>In the 24 hours after the New Zealand massacre, <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/03/update-on-new-zealand/">1.5 million videos and images of the killings</a> were uploaded to Facebook’s servers, the company announced. Facebook highlighted the fact that 1.2 million of them “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/facebook-youtube-worked-to-remove-copied-new-zealand-shooting-videos.html">were blocked at upload</a>.” However, as a <a href="https://news.syr.edu/faculty-experts/jennifer-grygiel/">social media researcher and educator</a>, I heard that as an admission that 300,000 videos and images of a mass murder passed through its automated systems and were visible on the platform.</p>
<p>The company recently issued some analytic details and noted that <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/facebook-no-one-reported-nz-shooting-video-during-17-minute-livestream/">fewer than 200 people viewed</a> the livestream of the massacre, and that surprisingly, no users reported it to Facebook until after it ended. These details make painfully clear how dependent Facebook is on users to flag harmful content. They also suggest that people don’t know how to report inappropriate content – or don’t have confidence the company will act on the complaint.</p>
<p>The video that remained after the livestream ended was viewed nearly 4,000 times – which <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/18/facebook-says-the-original-new-zealand-shooter-video-was-viewed-about-4000-times-before-removal/">doesn’t include copies of the video</a> uploaded to other sites and to Facebook by other users. It’s unclear how many of the people who saw it were minors; youth as young as 13 are allowed to set up Facebook accounts and could have encountered unfiltered footage of murderous hatred. It’s past time for the company to step up and fulfill the promise its founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made two years ago, after Godwin’s murder: “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-talks-about-the-facebook-killer-steve-stephens-2017-4">We will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening</a>.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RutqLLi4YnY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discusses the murder of Robert Godwin Sr.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A simple time-delay</h2>
<p>In the television industry, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/livestreaming-on-facebook-twitter-and-youtube-needs-radical-change/">short time-delays of a few seconds are typical</a> during broadcasts of live events. That time allows a moderator to review the content and confirm that it’s appropriate for a broad audience. </p>
<p>Facebook relies on users as moderators, and some livestreams may not have a large audience like TV, so its delay would need to be longer, perhaps a few minutes. Only then would enough adult users have screened it and had the chance to report its content. Major users, including publishers and corporations, could be permitted to livestream directly after completing a training course. Facebook could even let people <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2017/08/a-modest-proposal-to-moderate-trumps-tweets.html">request a company moderator</a> for upcoming livestreams.</p>
<p>Facebook has not yet taken this relatively simple step – and the reason is clear. Time-delays took hold in TV only because <a href="http://us.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/03/grammys.tape.delay/index.html">broadcasting regulators penalized broadcasters</a> for airing inappropriate content during live shows. There is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.12.003">effectively no regulation</a> for social media companies; they change <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-tech-isnt-one-big-monopoly-its-5-companies-all-in-different-businesses-92791">only in pursuit of profits</a> or to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/technology/facebook-definers-soros.html">minimize public outcry</a>.</p>
<p>Whether and how to regulate social media is a political question, but many U.S. politicians have developed deep <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17219930/facebook-campaign-contributions-mark-zuckerberg-congress-donations">ties with platforms like Facebook</a>. Some have relied on social media to collect donations, target supporters with advertising and <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5k8z/how-facebook-and-google-win-by-embedding-in-political-campaigns">help them get elected</a>. Once in office, they continue to use social media to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsx056">communicate with supporters</a> in hopes of getting reelected.</p>
<p>Federal agencies also use social media to communicate with the public and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/one-tiny-corner-u-s-government-pushes-back-against-russian-n866021">influence people’s opinions</a> – even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/technology/facebook-ads-propaganda.html">in violation of U.S. law</a>. In my view, Facebook’s role as a tool to gain, keep and spread political power makes politicians far less likely to rein it in.</p>
<h2>US regulation isn’t coming soon</h2>
<p>Congress has not yet taken any meaningful action to regulate social media companies. Despite strong statements from politicians and even calls for hearings about social media <a href="https://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-pol-blumenthal-facebook-shooting-20190318-pxlzxbnxobbshgjjtfvdpir7l4-story.html">in response to the New Zealand attack</a>, U.S. regulators aren’t likely to lead the way.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/21/17885086/facebook-european-union-regulations-sanctions">European Union officials</a> are handling much of the work, especially <a href="https://theconversation.com/fragmented-us-privacy-rules-leave-large-data-loopholes-for-facebook-and-others-94606">around privacy</a>. New Zealand’s government has stepped up, too, <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/chief-censor-bans-christchurch-shooting-video-distributors-could-face-jail.html">banning the livestream video</a> of the mosque massacre, meaning anyone who shares it could face up to <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/chief-censor-bans-christchurch-shooting-video-distributors-could-face-jail.html">NZ$10,000 in fines and 14 years in prison</a>. At least two people have already been <a href="https://gizmodo.com/18-year-old-arrested-in-new-zealand-for-sharing-terrori-1833402190">arrested</a> <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434453-22-year-old-arrested-for-allegedly-sharing-video-of-new-zealand">for sharing it online</a>. </p>
<h2>Facebook could – and should – act now</h2>
<p>Much of the discussion about regulating social media has considered <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/24/18195959/facebook-advocacy-groups-ftc-break-up-cambridge-analytica-scandal-data-breach">using anti-trust and monopoly laws</a> to force the enormous technology giants like Facebook to break up into smaller separate companies. But if it happens at all, that will be very difficult – <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-21/business/fi-48462_1_system-breakup">breaking up AT&T lasted a decade</a>, from the 1974 lawsuit to the 1984 launch of the “Baby Bell” companies.</p>
<p>In the interim, there will be many more dangerous and violent incidents people will try to livestream. Facebook should <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147642/end-too-big-regulate">evaluate its products’ potential for misuse</a> and discontinue them if the effects are harmful to society.</p>
<p>No child should ever see the sort of “<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mathonan/why-facebook-and-mark-zuckerberg-went-all-in-on-live-video">raw and visceral content</a>” that has been produced on Facebook Live – including mass murder. I don’t think adult users should be exposed to witnessing such heinous acts either, as <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/health/is-it-time-to-look-away-health-effects-of-watching-violence-in-the-media-20180315.html">studies have shown that viewing graphic violence has health risks</a>, such as post-traumatic stress.</p>
<p>That’s why I’m no longer recommending just a livestream delay for adolescent users – it was an appeal to protect children, when more major platform changes are unlikely. But all people deserve better and safe social media. I’m now calling on Mark Zuckerberg to shut down Facebook Live in the interest of public health and safety. In my view, that feature should be restored only if the company can prove to the public – and to regulators – that its design is safer. </p>
<p>Handling livestreaming safely includes having more than enough professional content moderators to handle the workload. Those workers also must have <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona">appropriate access to mental health support</a> and safe working environments, so that even Facebook employees and contractors are not unduly scarred by brutal violence posted online.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Grygiel owns a small number of shares in the following social media companies: Facebook, Google, Twitter, Alibaba, LinkedIn, YY and Snap.</span></em></p>Children can’t handle watching livestreamed massacres – and adults shouldn’t have to.Jennifer Grygiel, Assistant Professor of Communications (Social Media) & Magazine, Syracuse UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1137152019-03-18T05:48:38Z2019-03-18T05:48:38ZSocial media create a spectacle society that makes it easier for terrorists to achieve notoriety<p>The shocking mass-shooting in Christchurch on Friday is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-15/christchurch-shooting-at-mosques-leads-to-multiple-fatalities/10904306">notable</a> for using livestreaming video technology to broadcast horrific first-person footage of the shooting on social media.</p>
<p>In the highly disturbing video, the gunman drives to the Masjid Al Noor mosque, walks inside and shoots multiple people before leaving the scene in his car. </p>
<p>The use of social media technology and livestreaming marks the attack as different from many other terrorist incidents. It is a form of violent “<a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CICrimJust/2015/21.html">performance crime</a>”. That is, the video streaming is a central component of the violence itself, it’s not somehow incidental to the crime, or a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_6MxDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false">disgusting trophy</a> for the perpetrator to re-watch later.</p>
<p>In the past, terrorism functioned according to what has been called the “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_theater_of_terror.html?id=WWllAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">theatre of terror</a>”, which required the media to report on the spectacle of violence created by the group. Nowadays, it’s much easier for someone to both create the spectacle of horrific violence and distribute it widely by themselves.</p>
<p>In an era of social media, which is driven in large part by spectacle, we all have a role to play in ensuring that terrorists aren’t rewarded for their crimes with our clicks.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-news-outlets-should-think-twice-about-republishing-the-new-zealand-mosque-shooters-livestream-113651">Why news outlets should think twice about republishing the New Zealand mosque shooter's livestream</a>
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<h2>Performance crime is about notoriety</h2>
<p>There is a tragic and recent history of performance crime videos that use livestreaming and social media video services as part of their tactics. </p>
<p>In 2017, for example, the sickening murder video of an elderly man in Ohio was uploaded to Facebook, and the torture of a man with disabilities in Chicago was livestreamed. In 2015, the murder of two journalists was simultaneously <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/27/virginia-shooting-in-an-instant-vester-flanagan-broadcast-death-to-the-world">broadcast on-air, and livestreamed</a>.</p>
<p>American journalist Gideon Lichfield <a href="https://qz.com/489002/before-you-watch-a-tragic-graphic-news-video-ask-who-wants-you-to-see-it-and-why/">wrote</a> of the 2015 incident, that the killer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>didn’t just want to commit murder – he wanted the reward of attention, for having done it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Performance crimes can be distinguished from the way traditional terror attacks and propaganda work, such as the hyper-violent videos <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-really-hollywood-the-medias-misleading-framing-of-islamic-state-videos-66131">spread by ISIS in 2014</a>. </p>
<p>Typical propaganda media that feature violence use a dramatic spectacle to raise attention and communicate the group’s message. But the perpetrators of performance crimes often don’t have a clear ideological message to convey. </p>
<p>Steve Stephens, for example, linked his murder of a random elderly victim to <a href="https://www.essence.com/news/steven-stephens-ex-girlfriend-joy-lane/">retribution for his own failed relationship</a>. He shot the stranger point-blank on video. Vester Flanagan’s appalling murder of two journalists seems to have been motivated by his anger at being <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/two-roanoke-journalists-killed-on-live-television-by-angry-former-colleague/2015/08/26/8e534e0e-4c0c-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html?utm_term=.04a726f8928c">fired from the same network</a>.</p>
<p>The Christchurch attack was a brutal, planned mass murder of Muslims in New Zealand, but we don’t yet know whether it was about communicating the ideology of a specific group. </p>
<p>Even though it’s easy to identify <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-mosque-terrorist-may-have-targeted-country-because-it-n983601">explicit references to white supremacist ideas</a>, the document is also strewn with confusing and inexplicable internet meme references and red herrings. These could be regarded as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/the-shooters-manifesto-was-designed-to-troll/585058/">trolling attempts to bait the public</a> into interrogating his claims, and magnifying the attention paid to the perpetrator and his gruesome killings.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-are-a-stark-warning-of-toxic-political-environment-that-allows-hate-to-flourish-113662">Christchurch attacks are a stark warning of toxic political environment that allows hate to flourish</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How we should respond</h2>
<p>While many questions remain about the attack itself, we need to consider how best to respond to performance crime videos. Since 2012, many academics and journalists <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/the-media-needs-to-stop-inspiring-copycat-murders-heres-how/266439/">have argued</a> that media coverage of mass violence should be limited to <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-media-need-to-think-twice-about-how-they-portray-mass-shooters-91972">prevent the reward of attention</a> from potentially driving further attacks. </p>
<p>That debate has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-news-outlets-should-think-twice-about-republishing-the-new-zealand-mosque-shooters-livestream-113651">continued</a> following the tragic events in New Zealand. Journalism lecturer Glynn Greensmith <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/christchurch-shootings-and-the-power-that-comes-from-denying-killers-their-fame-20190315-p514ng.html">argued</a> that our responsibility may well be to limit the distribution of the Christchurch shooting video and manifesto as much as possible. </p>
<p>It seems that, in this case, social media and news platforms have been more mindful about removing the footage, and refusing to rebroadcast it. The video was taken <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/streamed-facebook-spread-youtube-new-zealand-shooting-video-circulates-online-n983726">down within 20 minutes by Facebook</a>, which <a href="https://twitter.com/fbnewsroom/status/1107117981358682112">said</a> that in the first 24 hours it removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally.</p>
<p>Telecommunication service Vodafone moved quickly to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111322733/facebook-battles-to-stamp-out-horror-footage-of-christchurch-shooting">block New Zealand users from access to sites</a> that would be likely to distribute the video.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1107117981828431872"}"></div></p>
<p>The video is likely to be <a href="https://www.dia.govt.nz/Sharing-of-Christchurch-shooting-video-likely-to-be-against-the-law">declared objectionable material</a>, according to New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, which means it is illegal to possess. Many are calling on the public not to share it online. </p>
<h2>Simply watching the video can cause trauma</h2>
<p>Yet the video still exists, dispersed throughout the internet. It may be removed from official sites, but its online presence is maintained via re-uploads and file-sharing sites. Screenshots of the videos, which frequently appear in news reports, also inherit symbolic and traumatic significance when they serve as visual reminders of the distressing event.</p>
<p>Watching images like these has the <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1177/0263276415619220">potential to provoke vicarious trauma</a> in viewers. Studies since the September 11 attacks suggest that “distant trauma” can be <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200111153452024">linked to multiple viewings of distressing media images</a>. </p>
<p>While the savage violence of the event is distressing in its own right, this additional potential to traumatise people who simply watch the video is something that also plays into the aims of those committing performance crimes in the name of terror. </p>
<h2>Rewarding the spectacle</h2>
<p>Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are powered by a framework that encourages, rewards and creates performance. People who post cat videos cater to this appetite for entertainment, but so do criminals.</p>
<p>According to British criminologist Majid Yar, the new media environment <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741659012443227">has created</a> different genres of performance crime. The performances have increased in intensity, and criminality – from so-called “happy slapping” videos circulated among adolescents, to violent sexual assault videos. The recent attack is a terrifying continuation of this trend, which is predicated on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741659012443227">a kind of exhibitionism and desire to be identified as the performer of the violence</a>.</p>
<p>Researcher Jane O'Dea, who has studied the role played by the media environment in school shootings, <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/ODEMAV">claims</a> that we exist in: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a society of the spectacle that regularly transforms ordinary people into “stars” of reality television or of websites like Facebook or YouTube.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perpetrators of performance crime are <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CICrimJust/2015/21.html">inspired by</a> the attention that will inevitably result from the online archive they create leading up to, and during, the event.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-a-truly-inclusive-society-requires-political-restraint-113719">View from The Hill: A truly inclusive society requires political restraint</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We all have a role to play</h2>
<p>I have <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_6MxDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA53&vq=that%20otherwise%20may%20not%20have%20occurred&pg=PA53#v=snippet&q=that%20otherwise%20may%20not%20have%20occurred&f=false">previously argued</a> that this media environment seems to produce violent acts that otherwise may not have occurred. Of course, I don’t mean that the perpetrators are not responsible or accountable for their actions. Rather, performance crime represents a different type of activity specific to the technology and social phenomenon of social media – the accidental dark side of livestreaming services. </p>
<p>Would the alleged perpetrator of this terrorist act in Christchurch still have committed it without the capacity to livestream? We don’t know. </p>
<p>But as Majid Yar <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741659012443227">suggests</a>, rather than concerning ourselves with old arguments about whether media violence can cause criminal behaviour, we should focus on how the techniques and reward systems we use to represent ourselves to online audiences are in fact a central component of these attacks.</p>
<p>We may hope that social media companies will get <a href="https://www.keyt.com/news/national-world/why-ai-is-still-terrible-at-spotting-violence-online/1060036679">better at filtering out violent content</a>, but until they do we should reflect on our own behaviour online. As we like and share content of all kinds on social platforms, let’s consider how our activities could contribute to an overall spectacle society that inspires future perpetrator-produced videos of performance crime – and act accordingly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart M Bender does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Until social platforms improve filtering of extremist content, we all have a role to play in ensuring our online activities don’t contribute to a spectacle society that rewards terrorists with clicks.Stuart M Bender, Early Career Research Fellow (Digital aesthetics of violence), Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/772302017-06-28T01:42:17Z2017-06-28T01:42:17ZWhy it’s important to understand social media’s dark history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175890/original/file-20170627-24756-c1emre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/516548275?src=jfFfFpTAd5CTSLKufab5xw-1-56&size=huge_jpg">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was in April 2016 that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media platform was providing its <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/technology/facebook-earnings/">nearly two billion users</a> the opportunity to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102764095821611">livestream content</a>. The move was viewed as a natural extension of the platform’s primary goal: providing a space for the average person to share their daily experiences, from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bowmanspartan/videos/vb.2328858/10110128600086054/?type=2&theater">the mundane</a> to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fatlbuzz%2Fvideos%2F10155052739929832%2F&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=video">the meaningful</a>. </p>
<p>Almost as quickly, users found ways to live-broadcast <a href="http://abc7chicago.com/news/hate-crime-charges-filed-against-4-in-facebook-live-torture-case/1687517/">the worst of their nature</a>, including the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/man-kills-victim-live-on-facebook-and-goes-on-the-run-after-posting-easter-day-slaughter-video/news-story/63ebe5845760d68942be0807d4a040f5">“Easter Day slaughter”</a> in which the fatal shooting of a 74-year-old Cleveland grandfather was livestreamed. </p>
<p>In response, calls have increased for Facebook to either shutter the service or find a way to better regulate its content. Rev. Jesse Jackson, for example, remarked that Facebook Live is being used by people “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/21/jesse-jackson-chicago-officials-call-facebook-live-moratorium/100772144/">as a platform to release their anger, their fears and their foolishness.”</a></p>
<p>Many have referred to these behaviors as <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/04/17/facebook-killing/">Facebook’s “dark side”</a> and demanded that the company find a solution to prevent such antisocial behavior. </p>
<p>However, a brief look through the history of social media shows us that dark behaviors are neither unique to Facebook nor something new to today’s users. </p>
<h2>A dark history</h2>
<p>Poet and technology author Judy Malloy wrote about the <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/social-media-archeology-and-poetics">earliest precursors to social media networks as places of creativity and community</a>. For example, programs such as Berkeley’s <a href="http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/community-memory-precedents-in-social-media-and-movements/">Community Memory</a> allowed 1970s users a digital space to post content and share stories for others in the community to read, with popular content including personal ads and short stories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175910/original/file-20170627-24741-33l5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early French Minitel terminal. Early social media days had their dark moments as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cheindel/3272350519/in/photolist-5ZaDNx-7zApPV-a7XzWj-7bd3g8-iNpH9k-7be69Q-7bbtrz-oswaWP-6T2Wt9-7baHmM-aVpWkt-7bgwUA-7bhSPn-9M2QU4-aUXTD8-7beDa7-eVLBmw-aUXTLk-2EYR3H-aUXTYX-aUXTW8-aUXUaX-aUXU8a-4kvY6K-azT8dp-aUXTHg-aUXUkp-aUXUz8-aUXU5g-aUXTTr-aUXUg6-aUXUpZ-6iJm2j-aUXUwr-aUXUtg-aUXUnR-aUXTNr-4BNSep-aUXTQi-ai6w7F-8Pkt2n-jz4ju-7bgWNy-7bdBz2-fhR1s9-73up42-btXnoC-7bicJb-azXNym-5YKvdQ">Christian Heindel</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet even those halcyon days had their dark moments. In 1985, author <a href="http://lindsyvangelder.com/">Lindsy Van Gelder</a> wrote about her experiences with the <a href="https://www.wired.com/2009/09/0924compuserve-launches/">CompuServe CB Simulator</a>, one of the world’s first online chat rooms. Among the popular channels in CB Simulator were those devoted to romance and relationships, which were of particular interest to LGBTQ individuals who found it difficult to discuss gender identity and sexual preferences in public. While many users found love online – <a href="http://boxchronicles.com/cb-simulator/">a 1991 wedding hosted in CB Simulator is thought to be the first online wedding</a> – in Van Geldr’s case, she was <a href="http://lindsyvangelder.com/sites/default/files/Plinkers.org%20-%20Electronic%20Lover.htm_.pdf">deceived into an intimate online romantic relationship</a> by a man posing as a disabled woman. </p>
<p>Stories of sexual aggression turned perhaps darker in 1998, when technology journalist Julian Dibbell wrote about a <a href="http://www.juliandibbell.com/articles/a-rape-in-cyberspace/">sexual assault</a> that took place in a text-based online world called <a href="http://www.moo.mud.org/">LambdaMoo</a>. The notion of a sexual assault online might seem odd given that users have no physical contact with one another. Yet, a LambdaMoo user named “Mr. Bungle” hacked the program in a way that allowed him to have complete control over other users’ behaviors, such as their conversations and descriptions of their movements. </p>
<p>He used this hack to cause users to engage in obscene and violent sexual acts with their own bodies, having the players describe where and how they were touching themselves and others, but without consent, according to Dibbell’s account. Mr. Bungle claimed that his actions were just a prank, despite his victims’ insistence that they had been humiliated by his actions (or at least the actions that he forced them to perform or describe while performing). The story is notable, given that <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009365096023001001">online relationships can be just as intimate and important as offline ones</a>. </p>
<p>Fast forward to early 2006, and the story of Evan Guttmann and his friend’s stolen Motorola Sidekick mobile phone captivated the internet. What started as a <a href="http://www.evanwashere.com/stolensidekick/original/">simple blog</a> about a teenager who refused to return the phone to its rightful owners turned into a story of a growing internet mob – <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/nyregion/21sidekick.html">followers of Evans’s blog tracked down the teen’s home address and harassed the family</a>. </p>
<p>Later in 2006, users of MySpace would hear the tragic story of Megan Meier, a Missouri teenager who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/nyregion/21sidekick.html">took her own life</a> after the boy she met online (a MySpace user named “Josh”) shunned her. It was only later, after investigations were done, that Megan’s family found out that the boy “Josh” was really the mother of a girl that Megan had recently gotten into a fight with. That incident led to the passage of the United States’ first <a href="http://tucson.com/news/mo-begins-prosecuting-under-cyberbullying-law/article_5178236b-7989-5913-a8b6-c9b8b915575b.html">cyberbullying laws</a>. </p>
<h2>Understanding social media</h2>
<p>These stories are examples of what can happen when a single user discovers ways to use a technology that weren’t intended by designers: using the anonymity of CompuServe to deceive, using clever programming scripts to alter other users’ behaviors, using blogs to draw attention to a minor offense, and using social media to create a false identity. In each case, deceptions and actions <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sK62qU0Fbz0C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=ethics+and+lambdamoo&source=bl&ots=mu0-YxVE2i&sig=uufrSoD1-I6_kJikUF7dt2FFdFI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiTtaqbst7TAhWJ4iYKHXjFDucQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=ethics%20and%20lambdamoo&f=false">had dramatic real-life consequences for those involved</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175897/original/file-20170627-24798-176ju2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How can we understand today’s social media?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-november-26-2016-man-527447305?src=fhw4S5O_rDrZZcCOrViWYg-1-69">Vasin Lee/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most importantly, these stories serve as examples of how to understand Facebook specifically, and social media in general. It is important that users realize that the ethics of Facebook communication are no different than the <a href="https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/2013_Public_Statements_Credo_for_Free_and_Responsible_Use_of_Electronic_Communication_Networks_Approved.pdf">ethics of any other form of human communication</a>. Rather than dismissing social media as wasteful and distracting <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751616300379">and passing this perspective on to our children</a>, they need to recognize that the enterprise of human communication <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/009365096023001001">is as meaningful online as it is offline</a>. </p>
<p>Commentators have blasted Facebook’s livestreaming option as “<a href="https://theringer.com/facebook-live-violence-crime-moderation-policy-9a3ae1fefb07">essentially barrierless broadcasting system</a>,” but such critiques ignore the benefits of that “barrierless” broadcasting, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcc4.12069/pdf">such as connecting families separated by oceans</a> and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2013.838369">providing voice to persecuted groups</a>. Even violent footage can, at times, be beneficial: The <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/facebook-live-video-minnesota-police-shooting/">Facebook Live broadcast of a July 2016 police shooting in Minnesota</a> served as a powerful reminder <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-do-i-not-look/?preview_id=24392">about social injustice and policing in the United States</a>. Counterterrorism forces have come to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/15/facebook-using-artificial-intelligence-to-crack-down-on-terrorism/102887032/">rely on social media posts to track and better understand terrorist activities online</a>. </p>
<p>To combat misuse of livestreaming, Facebook recently announced the <a href="http://www.popsci.com/Facebook-hiring-3000-content-monitors">hiring of an additional 3,000 monitors to screen live videos</a>. However, in my view, ultimately, the responsibility for the content of social media falls to the <a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/4455262">digital citizens</a> who create and interact in the space on a daily basis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Bowman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Facebook has been used at times for antisocial behavior. However, such behaviors are neither unique nor new.Nicholas Bowman, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/762212017-05-18T14:48:04Z2017-05-18T14:48:04ZThere’s a technology that could stop Facebook Live being used to stream murders – but it has a cost<p>It took 24 hours before the video of a man murdering his baby daughter was removed from Facebook. On April 24, 2017, the father from Thailand had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/25/facebook-thailand-man-livestreams-killing-daughter">streamed the killing</a> of his 11-month-old baby girl using the social network’s Live video service before killing himself. The two resulting video clips were streamed hundreds of thousands of times before they were finally removed.</p>
<p>This was the not the first time Facebook has been used to live stream violent behaviour. Earlier in April, the site was used to stream a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/04/facebook-live-murder-steve-stephens/">murder in Cleveland</a> and a <a href="http://time.com/4756939/facebook-live-alabama-suicide-james-jeffrey/">suicide in Alabama</a> in the US.</p>
<p>As a result, Facebook has been criticised for <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/social-networking/92200963/facebook-to-add-3000-workers-to-fight-streaming-of-live-violence-suicide">not responding quickly enough</a> to the use of its live streaming service in this way. The company has responded by saying it already has plans to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-crime-idUSKBN17Z1N4">hire 3,000 people</a> to identify any videos containing criminal and violent behaviour.</p>
<p>But with <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/technology/facebook-earnings/">1.86 billion users</a>, Facebook is far too big for this to be enough. What Facebook is facing is not only a management problem but a technology challenge. Instead, the social network needs to roll out more software that can detect videos with violent content automatically. </p>
<p>Traditionally, social networks have relied on users to identify criminal activities through reporting and complaining systems. If anyone feels threatened or identifies any abnormal activities, they can report them to the site or, if necessary, directly to the police. In Facebook’s case, if anyone complains about any violent content, Facebook will investigate it and decide whether it needs to be removed.</p>
<p>But given the amount of content posted every day and the speed at which it spreads, even thousands of investigators are unlikely to be enough to deal with violent videos rapidly. That’s why it took nearly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/25/facebook-thailand-man-livestreams-killing-daughter">24 hours</a> for the murder video to be removed, even though it was reported right after the live stream started. </p>
<p>Recent developments in artificial intelligence technology could provide a solution through what is known as “text mining”, “image mining” and “video mining” technology. This uses machine learning algorithms to try to automatically detect any sensitive words or behaviour in digital content. Facebook could set up a system that uses this technology to identify content as potentially violent and prevent it from spreading through the network. This would provide more time for users to report the content and for Facebook’s staff to check whether it needs to be removed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169961/original/file-20170518-12250-17is3ds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The price of free publishing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To be effective, the algorithms need to incorporate ideas from psychology and linguistics so that they can categorise different types of violent content. For example, the act of killing someone is relatively easy to designate as violent. But many other potentially violent acts involve psychological damage rather than bodily harm.</p>
<p>The algorithms would have to automatically cluster or classify messages into different levels based on their linguistic features, attaching a higher score to content with a greater likelihood of violent behaviour. Facebook staff could then use this system to more efficiently monitor content.</p>
<p>This may also allow staff to prevent violent content appearing before it is uploaded. If the system alerts staff of low-level violent speech or messages, they could step in to prevent further content being uploaded that represents actual physical violence or more severe messages.</p>
<p>If details were then passed to the police, this system could even be able to prevent the crimes occurring in the first place. For example, a government report on the public murder of British soldier Lee Rigby suggests that Facebook could have done more to stop the killers, who had discussed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/25/lee-rigby-murder-internet-firm-could-have-picked-up-killers-message-report-says">“killing a soldier” on the site</a>.</p>
<h2>New problems</h2>
<p>This kind of machine learning algorithm has been well developed and used to report of car accidents and congestion in the CCTV footage used by transport authorities. But it’s yet to be developed for live-streamed online videos. The difficulty is that livestream video content is much harder for algorithms to analyse than videos of moving cars. But the urgent demand for content monitoring and management software should drive advances in this area. Facebook might even act as the leader in the field.</p>
<p>However, this might lead to content being monitored and even censored before it has been published. This would raise the issue of what rights Facebook has over content posted to its site, adding to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/9780565/Facebook-terms-and-conditions-why-you-dont-own-your-online-life.html">existing controversy</a> over the way most social networks have the right to use content in almost any way they like.</p>
<p>It would also conflict with the conventional ethos of social media being a way for users to publish anything they wish (even if it may later be removed), which has been a part of the internet since its birth. It would also mean Facebook accepting <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-and-google-have-a-moral-duty-to-stop-online-abuse-35377">greater responsibility</a> for the content on its site than it has so far been prepared to acknowledge, making it more like a traditional publisher than a platform. And this could create a <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-algorithms-give-it-more-editorial-responsibility-not-less-65182">whole new set of problems</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76221/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Honglei Li does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Text and video ‘mining’ could be used to automatically detect violent language and behaviour.Honglei Li, Senior Lecturer in Computer and Information Sciences, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/740942017-03-08T09:34:35Z2017-03-08T09:34:35ZQ&A: How often do we need to go to the gym? (And other exercise questions answered)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159578/original/image-20170306-20746-11tef3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reached a fitness goal? Reward yourself.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-senior-couple-spinning-gym-503645470?src=v3lfdN7IS-VtvLpshiHoeA-1-6">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you started 2017 with a resolution to lose weight or get fit then you may have found that you need some extra help and motivation by now. In fact, <a href="https://theconversation.com/struggling-with-your-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-you-can-hang-on-in-there-71384">80% of people</a> who join the gym in the new year will quit by the second week in February and generally speaking, <a href="https://www.couponcabin.com/blog/new-survey-fitness-costs-and-gym-memberships-in-2012/">50% of people</a> who join the gym will quit within six months.</p>
<p>So what can you do to stick to, and get the most out, of your new regime? James Brown, lecturer in biology and biomedical science at Aston University, told The Conversation how to stay motivated – he also answered some burning fitness questions in a Facebook Live session.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fastonuniversity%2Fvideos%2F10154416352268137%2F&width=500&show_text=false&height=281&appId" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><br></p>
<h2>How much exercise do we need?</h2>
<p>That’s the $64,000 question. National government recommendations, which were published recently, suggested that actually, the current thinking is that you need to do <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916">150 minutes of exercise a week</a>, and that you need to do a proportion of exercise that is regarded as moderate exercise. It is felt that if you go to the gym two or three times a week, that’s the kind of levels of exercise you need to do. </p>
<p>However there is some evidence that even people who don’t exercise throughout the week, but manage to fit their activity in at the weekend – so they go walking or they play part of a sport club – have the same outcomes in terms of health and disease as people that exercise throughout the week. The so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/weekend-warrior-exercise-is-it-good-for-you-70964">“weekend warrior” effects</a> of people that have a sedentary job during the week, but exercise at weekends has been shown to actually be as beneficial as exercising throughout the week. And that’s a really interesting finding because we know that spending more time sitting down is very bad for us. </p>
<p>So there isn’t really a set figure that’s backed by hard science. The most important thing is to be as active as you can manage. So if you can manage to go to the gym two to three times a week, great. If you can only manage to go to the gym once a week then make sure that on your non-gym days, you’re being as physically active as possible. So every hour make sure you get up from your desk, if you work at a desk – walk around, get the blood moving, get your legs and your muscles contracting. </p>
<p>If you’re walking around an office then that’s better than sitting down, and if you get the opportunity to take the stairs instead of the lift (which is a big thing as in Aston University because we’ve got seven storeys), then try and take the stairs – it’s really good exercise. </p>
<h2>What about training for long durations?</h2>
<p>I think it’ll depend on the training that you’re doing. It’s important to make sure you’re not having a negative effect on your health by <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-things-you-should-know-before-starting-that-exercise-regime-63850">over-training </a>. So if you’re doing training that’s at a relatively moderate intensity for two hours then it’s going to depend on the individual. Some individuals have a body type which is going to be able to support that level of exercise – athletes, elite athletes particularly, will cope with two hours at the gym absolutely fine. </p>
<p>If you’re a newcomer to exercise – and that’s really what we’re talking about, as most people that are making their new year’s resolutions and maybe are struggling to stick to them – two hours at the gym might be too much. </p>
<p>And in terms of trying to maintain that motivation, make sure that what you’re doing is manageable. So don’t do so little that you leave the gym without a bead of sweat on you, but make sure you’re not doing so much that you are in so much pain for days afterwards that you’re unlikely to go to the gym again for another week. Find the level that you can manage and build on that level as you go through your exercise regime.</p>
<h2>Protein shakes or lean meat to build lean muscle?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159579/original/image-20170306-20759-17jls9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protein is needed for muscle growth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sport-fitness-healthy-lifestyle-people-concept-537358633?src=CgjOj5aEWKdtfOwgh4QBTQ-1-6">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s a really good question. I think taking protein in after a workout, particularly if you’ve done resistance training, is very important for building and maintaining muscle mass. It used to be felt that there was a window in which you needed to take protein in, and that was a couple of hours, but that’s kind of been dispelled. So as long as, probably <a href="http://jn.nutrition.org/content/144/6/876.abstract?sid=c41349a9-51fa-4e16-a2f8-844e73ac3ff4">within 24 hours</a> of your exercise, you take in 20 to 30 grams of protein then you’re going to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. </p>
<p>The benefit of taking a whey protein shake, rather than eating meat that contains the same amount of protein, is that <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/520142-how-fast-do-you-digest-whey-protein/">it’s often absorbed faster</a> because it doesn’t have to be digested. Beyond that, just make sure you’re maintaining a protein intake in your diet that’s likely to be helping to maintain or increase the size of lean body mass after exercise.</p>
<h2>I’m very time poor – if I want to put what little time I have into the best exercise for general health and a toned body, what should I do?</h2>
<p>I think many of us are time poor. The key is understanding that exercise <a href="https://theconversation.com/less-pain-more-gain-improving-health-and-fitness-with-minimal-exercise-71028">doesn’t have to be in large chunks</a> on set days. So make sure that you’re walking as much as you can throughout the day. </p>
<p>If you have a <a href="https://templatelab.com/high-intensity-interval-training/">high intensity interval training</a> regime when you’re at home that takes ten minutes, so ten minutes of exercise, it doesn’t have to cost anything because the exercises which we do as part of a high intensity interval training exercise could be calisthenic based: it could be squats or star jumps for example, that’s not going to take up a lot of your time. Ten minutes every other day or three days a week is going to help you remain fit and will fit in with your busy schedule.</p>
<p>–
<em>The Conversation is running a series of Facebook Lives with academics, covering a variety of topics. To have a chance to get your questions answered, make sure you like us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConversationUK">Facebook</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74094/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dr James Brown answered questions on Facebook Live from how much exercise you need to what you should eat afterwards.James Brown, Senior Lecturer in Biology and Biomedical Science, Aston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720552017-02-09T03:47:09Z2017-02-09T03:47:09ZCan Facebook be sued for live-streaming suicides?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156108/original/image-20170208-17313-1692gdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nshepard/289077373/">nshepard/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In January, two different suicides were streamed using Facebook Live, a service that allows Facebook users to create and broadcast real-time videos to their followers. At the end of the month, a third was streamed live using a different service and is still publicly available on Facebook.</p>
<p>On January 22, a 14-year-old girl <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article129120064.html">hanged herself</a> in front of about 1,000 viewers. It took nearly an hour for her to prepare, and <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article129303609.html">followers watched her body hang</a> in the bathroom where she took her life for another hour.</p>
<p>The very next day, a 33-year-old father of six told his Facebook followers that he was going to kill himself and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-actor-death-20170124-htmlstory.html">subsequently did so</a> while live-streaming. The video remained up on his Facebook page <a href="http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2017/01/upcoming-us-actor-jay-bowdy-commits.html">for eight hours</a>, with many users sharing it on their own pages.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"823632438391934976"}"></div></p>
<p>The following week, a popular gospel singer filmed a two-minute live video of himself drinking poison <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/3957106/richard-nhika-suicide-video-zimbabwe-singer-posts-streaming-video-of-final-act/">after breaking up</a> with his girlfriend. People who knew him were shocked, and his suicide sparked conversation on social media about suicide prevention. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"825916390473342976"}"></div></p>
<p>This disturbing trend isn’t new. In fact, just weeks before these suicides, a 12-year-old girl created a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/01/15/a-12-year-old-girl-live-streamed-her-suicide-it-took-two-weeks-for-facebook-to-take-the-video-down/?utm_term=.fca6113e1695">40-minute live video</a> of her own suicide using the streaming app Live.me. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4111988/Katelyn-Nicole-Davis-12-livestreamed-committing-suicide-cops-t-stop-video-shared-online.html">It went viral on YouTube and Facebook</a>, and even though her family immediately deleted it, it took Facebook two weeks to scrub all traces of it from the network. </p>
<p>These streams can be damaging on a number of fronts. Could they cause <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-talk-or-not-to-talk-the-dilemma-of-suicide-contagion-46434">suicide contagion</a>, in which a suicide attempt in an online or local community raises the likelihood of more suicide attempts within that network? What about the trauma inflicted on those who watch, especially family and friends? </p>
<p>Should Facebook be legally obligated to do more to prevent these types of disturbing live broadcasts? </p>
<p><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article128747259.html">Some see an ethical obligation for them to do so</a>. But as a law professor who researches the real-world implications of social media, I don’t believe current law requires Facebook to take any additional steps. </p>
<p>Though these types of videos are tragic and devastating, the law has evolved in a way to protect social media companies from most lawsuits. </p>
<h2>Suing for emotional harm</h2>
<p>In general, you can sue for emotional distress when you witness the death of a family member. In recent times, relatives have sued television stations that aired deaths and <a href="http://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/lawsuit-over-broadcast-of-suicide-puts-focus-on-real-time/article_c9cb3fde-073c-5d10-97eb-3973b3bf4f4b.html">suicides</a> live on air. But it can be difficult to win these cases, even though the legal rules are well-established. </p>
<p><a href="http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1906&context=plr">Since the late 19th century</a>, the law has recognized a limited right to sue for emotional harm. However, these laws were controversial from the start because courts typically think of harm as physical in nature. Courts <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2574942">have also been skeptical</a> because emotional harm is difficult to prove and they disfavor rules with indefinite boundaries.</p>
<p>The 1968 case <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/2d/68/728.html">Dillon v. Legg</a> recognized that relatives could bring a lawsuit for emotional distress without any physical injury. After a child was hit by a car and killed, his sister and mother – who witnessed the accident – sued the car’s driver, claiming emotional distress. The court held that they could receive damages, even though they weren’t physically harmed or in danger of harming themselves. </p>
<p>The rule for this sort of claim – called “negligent infliction of emotional distress” (NIED) – <a href="http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1509&context=facultypub">generally requires that</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>the plaintiff was near the scene of the incident;</li>
<li>the plaintiff’s observation of the incident caused significant distress;</li>
<li>the plaintiff and the victim were closely related.</li>
</ul>
<p>But this is hard to prove and often unsuccessful in cases involving media. For example, in 2015, the <a href="http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20INCO%2020150921116/CLIFTON%20v.%20McCAMMACK">Indiana Supreme Court</a> denied damages to a father who learned of the car accident that killed his son on television and then rushed to the scene. The court determined that the father could not prove NEID because he knew about the accident before arriving on the scene, did not observe any injury, blood or resuscitation efforts, and never saw his son’s body uncovered by the white sheet.</p>
<h2>Does Facebook already do its part?</h2>
<p>It isn’t clear how this applies to social media. In the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-woman-sues-facebook-revenge-porn-article-1.1887690">United States</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/09/facebook-revenge-pornography-case-could-open-floodgates">Ireland</a>, Facebook has been sued in “revenge porn” cases. One was dismissed before a decision; the other is still pending. </p>
<p>Federal law, however, probably protects social media companies like Facebook if they’re confronted with revenge porn or live suicide cases. For example, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230">Section 230</a> of the 1996 Communications Decency Act notes that providers of “interactive computer service[s]” are not the speakers or publishers of information provided by others. This means that Facebook isn’t liable for what people post, though there are exceptions for things like crime and intellectual property violations. It protects companies like Facebook from being held responsible for what it takes down or leaves up. </p>
<p>Furthermore, though it isn’t required to under the law, Facebook has created its own <a href="https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards#self-injury">community standards</a>, which prohibit “the promotion of self-injury or suicide.” It also allows users to report such posts so that it can consider whether to remove them (though Facebook is generally hesitant to take information down). Its <a href="https://qz.com/884293/a-suicide-streamed-live-exposes-facebooks-fb-thin-line-between-violence-and-public-service/">basic policy</a> “is to not remove any user content, as long as the value of public discourse outweighs the discomfort caused by said content.” </p>
<p>In addition, the social media site has voluntarily created a detailed <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/suicideprevention">suicide prevention page</a> and a two-tiered reporting system. Viewers can report the content to Facebook directly from the post itself or through the “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/305410456169423">Report Suicidal Content</a>” page, which implores users to contact law enforcement or a suicide hotline immediately.</p>
<h2>A slippery slope</h2>
<p>To force Facebook to change its approach, either the law must change or users must demand more corporate accountability. But changing the law to extend liability for emotional distress stemming from live-streamed suicides would open a Pandora’s box of issues. If Facebook could be sued for money damages based on live suicide posts, it could lead to countless lawsuits. This would also force the company to take drastic, and perhaps implausible, measures to protect itself by monitoring and deleting billions of posts. </p>
<p>This would raise serious, legitimate concerns about <a href="https://qz.com/777855/norway-facebook-censorship-norway-is-furious-with-facebook-and-its-algorithms-for-censoring-the-pulitzer-prize-winning-war-photo-of-a-young-girl-fleeing-a-napalm-attack-the-terror-of-war/">when censorship is appropriate</a>. As of the end of 2016, Facebook had <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/">1.86 billion monthly active users</a> worldwide. Monitoring each user’s content for acceptable information would be a monumental, if not impossible, burden. Legally requiring the company to determine when something should stay up or be removed because of the emotional distress it could inflict would seem to require Facebook to make nearly instantaneous decisions about complicated law. </p>
<p>In addition, the company could potentially be vulnerable to millions of lawsuits. Content is constantly being posted. If Facebook’s team makes any wrong calls, it could find itself responsible for significant legal damages on a number of fronts. </p>
<p>Finally, the negative impact on speech would be significant: The company would have the power to determine what posts are permissible and what posts aren’t. In the United States, <a href="https://qz.com/884293/a-suicide-streamed-live-exposes-facebooks-fb-thin-line-between-violence-and-public-service/">one bedrock legal principle</a> is protecting the free exchange of speech and ideas. Others, however, have noted that allowing nearly all speech online has <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/mr-obama-tear-down-this-liability-shield/">created a dangerous world</a> full of doxing, bullying and live suicide videos. </p>
<p>Live suicide videos are harrowing and alarming, and social media has made them easy to watch. Centuries-old laws related to emotional distress could not have anticipated these events that are, unfortunately, becoming more frequent. It may be impossible for Facebook to eliminate them from its site, and current law does not obligate them to do so. To prevent live-streamed suicide videos, we may have to ultimately rely on providing social media users with the tools to help prevent suicides.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shontavia Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After witnessing a streamed suicide, users could sue for emotional harm. But it’s tricky to prove – and even trickier to hold Facebook accountable.Shontavia Johnson, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Drake UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/722332017-02-08T04:16:55Z2017-02-08T04:16:55ZWhat Facebook Live means for journalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155516/original/image-20170203-14022-175x247.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook Live streaming after the police shooting death of Philando Castile.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/diversey/28171647206">Tony Webster</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every week seems to bring another devastating Facebook Live video posted online. A Florida teenager <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/another-live-streamed-suicide-puts-spotlight-on-social-media-ethics-1485388656">killed herself live on the internet</a> in January. A woman in Sweden was reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/world/europe/sweden-uppsala-facebook-live-rape.html?_r=0">raped while her three attackers broadcast it</a> for hundreds to see. And video of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/01/15/a-12-year-old-girl-live-streamed-her-suicide-it-took-two-weeks-for-facebook-to-take-the-video-down/">12-year-old girl’s suicide was broadcast on social media</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, other live-video incidents – such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/philando-castile-falcon-heights-shooting.html">police shootings</a> and the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/us/chicago-facebook-live-beating/">torture of a Chicago man</a> – have become key pieces of evidence and controversy in public debates about race and violence. In all, the past year saw <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/another-live-streamed-suicide-puts-spotlight-on-social-media-ethics-1485388656">at least 57 incidents of violence</a> broadcast via live video.</p>
<p>These events raise questions about the ethics and responsibilities of social media. They also point to a key media shift: Broadcasting live video used to be a complex technical feat, requiring television cameras, trucks and satellites. Today, the ubiquity of smartphones and social media has made “going live” as simple as tapping an app. The result has been a new world of live video – documenting society’s good, bad and ugly – that challenges how we think about visual information made public in an eyewitness, even journalistic fashion.</p>
<p>Here are five considerations for understanding how live-streaming services like <a href="https://live.fb.com/">Facebook Live</a> and <a href="https://www.periscope.tv/">Periscope</a> challenge journalism today.</p>
<h2>1. ‘Liveness’ and bearing witness</h2>
<p>Photos and videos have an inherent realism, which audiences associate with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Framing-Public-Life-Perspectives-on-Media-and-Our-Understanding-of-the/Reese-Jr-Grant/p/book/9780805849264">greater authenticity</a>. Media philosopher John Durham Peters has shown how the “liveness” of audiovisual media can accentuate that sense of authenticity, by providing a means of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/016344301023006002">collective witnessing</a>. Journalists, for example, act as witnesses to events, and audiences bear witness to news broadcasts and reports.</p>
<p>In July 2016, Facebook Live exposed the <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/07/485066807/police-stop-ends-in-black-mans-death-aftermath-is-livestreamed-online-video">police killing of Philando Castile</a>. The video served to bear witness and added to the public discussion of police brutality. </p>
<p>But the Castile video also illustrated the equal parts “<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/07/07/minnesota-womans-facebook-live-videos-highlight-unsolved-issues-of-social-apps-hosting-live-streams/">compelling and challenging</a>” aspects of bearing witness to live events: Videos can improve public awareness, while in some cases including material that is <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/12/30/facebook-live-porn-piracy/">graphic, pornographic or pirated</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Visually driven content</h2>
<p>Our cultural milieu, including news and social media, is increasingly visually oriented. The inclusion of a visual <a href="https://www.poynter.org/2012/new-poynter-eyetrack-research-reveals-how-people-read-news-on-tablets/191875/">increases audience attention</a>, and imagery can create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsn048">instantaneous emotional reactions</a>. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03331011">Images are easier to recall</a> than words, and visuals can <a href="https://qz.com/772819/aylan-kurdis-tragic-death-a-year-ago-didnt-stop-us-from-staying-numb-to-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/">drive humanitarian actions</a>, though such effects are short-lived. And in a social media environment, visuals can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catriona-pollard/why-visual-content-is-a-s_b_7261876.html">increase engagement</a>, which is often a key objective for users.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155722/original/image-20170206-18523-ihy0ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Now streaming up-to-the-minute interviews with policymakers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/29838365390/">European Parliament</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>News organizations and social media platforms are well aware of these effects. Facebook, like other social media providers, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catriona-pollard/why-visual-content-is-a-s_b_7261876.html">designs its interface</a> to emphasize visuals. Amid <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/mrdamian/digital-news-report-2015-selected-highlights">phenomenal growth</a> in video – YouTube has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/">more than a billion users</a> – <a href="http://www.vox.com/videos">news</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38054235/instagram-launches-live-disappearing-video-and-changes-direct-messaging">social media</a> sites are adapting their formats and tools to capitalize, hence the development of Facebook Live. </p>
<p>While Facebook originally emphasized this feature for professionally crafted video, even <a href="http://www.recode.net/2017/1/17/14269406/facebook-live-video-deals-paid">paying publishers to go live</a>, the social network now appears to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/02/01/technology/ap-us-tec-facebook-live-video-push.html">aggressively pushing regular users</a> both to consume and create live videos. Facebook says live videos generate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/02/01/technology/ap-us-tec-facebook-live-video-push.html">10 times more comments than regular ones</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Citizen reporting</h2>
<p>While news content is still largely dominated by media organizations acting as gatekeepers, the do-it-yourself information environment of social sharing means that the the press is not necessarily <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2014.895507">the last “gate.”</a> Audience-led forms of journalism – such as <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-does-the-zapruder-film-really-tell-us-14194/">posting videos from breaking news events</a> – are by no means new, but the widespread use of smartphone cameras and one-touch publishing has made <a href="https://theconversation.com/crisis-reporting-and-citizen-journalism-7-7-changed-the-way-we-experience-news-44369">citizen journalism</a> an almost taken-for-granted mode of the contemporary media environment.</p>
<p>Indeed, as seen in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/videos/?q=%23womensmarch">women’s march</a> and airport protests against the Trump administration, to protest these days is to live-document it at the same time – extending one’s reach beyond the protest space.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqNBSGcqt1Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters at JFK Airport in New York, Jan. 28, 2017.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s particularly new is this: Social networking sites – even ones like Facebook that tend to have a more private, friends-and-family orientation – increasingly are the platform for creating and sharing user-generated news, bypassing news organizations altogether. What matters more is the “<a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9780814743508/">spreadability</a>” of user-created content.</p>
<h2>4. Live video driving news</h2>
<p>If they get enough traffic, Facebook Live videos can become objects of more formal news coverage. In effect, the social circulation itself leads to the issue being “picked up” by news organizations; that, in turn, leads to further social conversation, as in the case of Castile’s death, shot live and preserved for others to see.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mp1Zn0eweaI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook Live videos can get an official response, and even professional news coverage.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not to say that all Facebook Live videos lead to front-page news; precious few ever will. Rather, Facebook Live videos can create a cycle in which social media videos lead to mainstream media coverage of an event or issue, generating heightened public awareness – which means more people are likely to post new live videos on that topic.</p>
<h2>5. Ethics</h2>
<p>Journalistic <a href="http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp">codes of ethics</a> emphasize seeking truth and minimizing harm. Facebook, of course, doesn’t adhere to these same ethical considerations, and, in fact, we have seen <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/12/facebook-2016-problems-fake-news-censorship">numerous ethical lapses</a> from the social media giant. What’s more, everyday folks creating Facebook Live videos do not fashion themselves as journalists – nor should they be expected to have <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/elements-journalism/">journalistic responsibilities</a> in mind.</p>
<p>But it’s worth reflecting for a moment on our collective responsibilities as Facebook users, live-streamers or not: What value are we deriving? How many thousands of people watched, reacted to and even commented on the live-streamed suicide of a 12-year-old? Are we really so desensitized? </p>
<p>Facebook begs us to become voyeurs. And while live-streamed videos can serve to enrich the human experience and educate the public, <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/12/30/facebook-live-porn-piracy/">they mostly tend to trade in the ugly and profane</a>. Are we, as the late media scholar Neil Postman famously suggested about another video medium, merely “<a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/297276/amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-neil-postman/9780143036531/">amusing ourselves to death</a>” with the mundane?</p>
<h2>Final considerations</h2>
<p>Live-streamed video muddies the intersection of Facebook and journalism. Facebook has more than a billion daily active users, with <a href="http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/">66 percent of its users</a> getting news from the site. That makes it, by some accounts, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-is-the-new-gatekeeper-2016-9?">the leading news gatekeeper in the world</a>. </p>
<p>It has faced tough scrutiny, from mounting evidence of <a href="https://qz.com/779082/facebooks-censoring-of-the-iconic-napalm-girl-photo-showcases-its-disturbing-power-to-rewrite-history/">censorship</a> to its part in facilitating <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/16/13653026/filter-bubble-facebook-election-eli-pariser-interview">filter bubbles</a> and <a href="http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/">echo chambers</a>.</p>
<p>While Facebook has denied its role as a media company, there are indications that the platform may be reevaluating its responsibility, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/business/media/facebook-campbell-brown-media-fake-news.html">hiring a former journalist to lead its news partnerships team</a> and developing the <a href="https://media.fb.com/2017/01/11/facebook-journalism-project/">Facebook journalism project</a> – though critics suggest <a href="https://mondaynote.com/facebook-journalism-project-is-nothing-but-a-much-needed-pr-stunt-c756744acec1">these moves are cynical efforts at damage control</a>.</p>
<p>What’s clear is that live-streaming video via social media forces us to consider how we think about news – its speed, spread and defining influence in bearing witness to public life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72233/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Facebook Live – and other live-video streaming services – change how we bear witness to events, and challenge how we think about visual information.Seth Lewis, Shirley Papé Chair in Electronic Media, School of Journalism and Communication, University of OregonNicole Smith Dahmen, Assistant Professor of Visual Communication, School of Journalism and Communication, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/724942017-02-08T03:23:38Z2017-02-08T03:23:38ZFight over live-streamed sport to go on after final bell sounds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155825/original/image-20170207-4240-5qs3ul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nearly 300,000 people tuned into two live streams on Facebook of the Anthony Mundine-Danny Green fight.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/David Mariuz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a Brisbane boxing fan who paid $59.95 for “live and exclusive” viewing of last Friday’s Danny Green v Anthony Mundine boxing match <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/boxing-fan-live-streams-mundine-v-green-fight-over-facebook-live-wins-internet/news-story/72694120291078080d9b209fac9e67c4">streamed it off his TV</a> through a smartphone and Facebook Live, he landed quite a blow beneath Foxtel’s belt. An estimated 300,000 <a href="http://www.bandt.com.au/media/foxtel-take-legal-action-streamers-green-v-mundine-fight">tuned in</a> via this and another unauthorised stream.</p>
<p>This is the latest skirmish over premium live sport in Australia. Foxtel’s high-priced oligopolistic control over Australian pay TV has again clashed with the demands of sport fans and the increasingly sophisticated capture and relay technologies available to them.</p>
<p>In a constantly changing TV sport environment, pay-TV providers have many more bruising bouts ahead of them – unless they let go of their conventional model of TV-based subscription and move to multiple platforms.</p>
<h2>Foxtel scores an own goal</h2>
<p>The curious feature of <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/foxtel-threatens-to-sue-as-facebook-pirates-plunder-mundine-vs-green-fight-424052">Foxtel’s response</a> to this purported act of mass piracy is the surprise at its occurrence, and its ham-fistedness. The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-04/green-v-mundine-live-streamers-warned-to-brace-for-legal-action/8241276">national coverage</a> accorded to Foxtel’s open threat to sue the <a href="http://www.bandt.com.au/media/foxtel-take-legal-action-streamers-green-v-mundine-fight">“two ordinary blokes”</a> who streamed the Mundine-Green fight achieved twin outcomes.</p>
<p>First, it elevated the profile of the two men, Brett Hevers and Darren Sharpe, who have become unlikely symbols of online resistance against perceived corporate greed. </p>
<p>As half-owner of Foxtel, News Corp Australia’s flagrant <a href="http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/two-face-5-years-jail-streaming-green-mundine-figh/3140108/">use of its news media syndication</a> to canvass five-year jail terms and $60,000 fines for the live-streamers was a self-administered punch by Goliath in his contest with David.</p>
<p>Foxtel’s decision to charge so much for access to the fight contrasts with <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/foxtel-threatens-to-sue-as-facebook-pirates-plunder-mundine-vs-green-fight-424052">Hevers’ claim</a> that $10 would have been a fairer amount to pay. This is especially the case as pay-per-view subscribers would already have incurred the cost of ongoing subscriptions to be in a position to watch it. </p>
<p>Second, that Facebook Live and similar services can be used to bypass restrictions on subscription-based television content has now been advertised in headlines across Australia. A previously low-profile part of the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=WQacCAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+informal+media+economy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjptYHn1_zRAhWMNpQKHSRnA1IQ6AEIGTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">informal media economy</a> is now common knowledge.</p>
<p>Almost the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/04/twitter-periscope-winner-mayweather-pacquiao">exact same scenario</a> unfolded in the US just two years earlier during HBO and Showtime’s live pay-per-view coverage of the blockbuster fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The only difference was the brand of the smartphone app used to circumvent the control of broadcast rights holders over access to the fight. The Twitter-owned Periscope service was the live-streaming app of choice among users on that occasion.</p>
<p>At least HBO and Showtime had the good sense to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32584454">limit their public statements</a> on the use of Periscope during the fight. </p>
<p>Foxtel’s errors are compounded by Facebook’s efforts to build a clear association between sport consumption and its Live service in the minds of millions of users. A reported US$4.4 million <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-enlists-soccer-elite-to-help-live-video-1469727818">has been paid</a> to popular athletes, teams and sports media companies around the world to create video content for Facebook Live.</p>
<p>The combination of Foxtel, Hevers, Sharpe and <a href="http://www.bandt.com.au/media/foxtel-take-legal-action-streamers-green-v-mundine-fight">300,000 viewers on Facebook</a> during the Green-Mundine fight has added to this push. The stage could be set for a knock ’em down, drag ’em out corporate tussle between Facebook and Foxtel.</p>
<h2>Can Foxtel keep up?</h2>
<p>Despite these missteps, it would be a mistake to assume that Foxtel is powerless against so-called digital disruptors. </p>
<p>Increased marketing of the Foxtel Play streaming service, particularly following the recent closure of Presto, and the offer of a bundled broadband service to new subscribers are indicative of an evolving business model designed to deliver content across multiple screens. </p>
<p>Actions are also being taken to counter rising competition from operators in the telecommunications sector. </p>
<p>When Optus <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-optus-stole-the-english-premier-league-from-foxtel-2016-5">seized the rights</a> to the English Premier League from Foxtel for its mobile and broadband platforms, Foxtel contracted with beIN Sports to carry some premium European football and games on delay, and other material from the channels of six leading English Premier League clubs – at <a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/epl-on-fox-sports-foxtel-ceos-open-letter-to-fans-about-optusfox-deals/news-story/9a26b28b92aad4bc596104dadb3efae1">no extra cost</a> to its subscribers.</p>
<p>So, Foxtel isn’t averse to giving away sport content when it suits its commercial interests. In this case, it did it to prevent the churning of paying customers to other services.</p>
<p>Rumbles like the one over the Mundine-Green live stream will no doubt proliferate. This technical knockout comes as Foxtel and other sport content owners transition from a service originally based on a big TV in the living room or the pub to a multiplicity of anytime, anywhere viewing platforms.</p>
<p>These owners won’t just have to deal with the spread of the NBN. They also must appreciate that the use of digital media technology is at least as much about capturing and uploading mobile content – say from the stands of a football stadium or the seats surrounding a boxing ring – as it is about receiving an expensive one-way communication provided by someone else.</p>
<p>Finally, there were other, non-pugilistic sport viewing opportunities on Australian TV last Friday night. People might have watched the A-League football match between Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC on free-to-air SBS.</p>
<p>Or, of greater historical significance, they could have resisted the dubious pleasure of paying $59.95 to watch <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/eddie-everywhere-mcguire-missing-from-collingwoods-historic-aflw-debut-20170203-gu5gdi.html">Eddie McGuire</a> host the boxing in favour of witnessing – without charge – the opening match of the AFL women’s league between his Collingwood team and Carlton on Seven. </p>
<p>Women’s sport is on the rise on free-to-air TV. Anti-siphoning laws continue to prevent many of the major sports events in Australia from becoming the <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">exclusive property of subscription TV</a>. And then there is the constant, rapid development of disruptive technologies and services. </p>
<p>All together, this means the pay-TV sector needs to adapt quickly in appealing to subscribers whose attention now moves freely between different screens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe has received funding from the Australian Research Council to support research relating to this article: Struggling for Possession: The Control and Use of Online Media Sport (with Brett Hutchins, DP0877777); 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502), and 'Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics' (with Tony Bennett et al, DP140101970). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Hutchins has received funding from the Australian Research Council to support research relating to this article: The Mobile Media Sport Moment: Investigating the Pivotal Role of Sport in Mobile Media Content, Markets and Technologies (FT130100506; <a href="http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/mobilemediasport/">http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/mobilemediasport/</a>), and Struggling for Possession: The Control and Use of Online Media Sport (with David Rowe, DP0877777).</span></em></p>Foxtel’s high-priced oligopolistic control over Australian pay TV has again clashed with the demands of sport fans and the increasingly sophisticated capture and relay technologies available to them.David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityBrett Hutchins, Professor of Media and Communications Studies, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/627692016-07-20T05:58:42Z2016-07-20T05:58:42ZDeath on smartphones: in a world of live streamed tragedy, what do we gain?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131185/original/image-20160720-8005-10tuvlh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The death in Nice on Bastille Day was live streamed in sickening detail.</span> </figcaption></figure><p><em>The videos in this article contain graphic violence that may be disturbing to some viewers.</em></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>A series of horrendous global events in the past few weeks have highlighted the use of <a href="https://live.fb.com/">Facebook Live</a> to stream footage via smart phones, as they unfold.</p>
<p>For the 1.5 billion Facebook subscribers, and other users on live streaming services Periscope and Meerkat, these video streams are the first drafts of history.</p>
<p>Diamond Reynolds’ live stream of the July 6 <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/13/us/police-shootings-investigations/">death of her partner, Philando Castile</a>, who was shot by police in Baton Rouge, was dramatic, emotional and unequivocal. </p>
<p>It was followed, just days later, by images streamed live by Michael Bautista of the <a href="http://www.cnet.com/au/news/shooting-at-texas-rally-streamed-live-on-facebook/">revenge attack on police at a Black Lives Matter rally Dallas</a>, just metres from Dealey Plaza where Abraham Zapruder recorded the <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-does-the-zapruder-film-really-tell-us-14194/?no-ist">most famous 8 mm film footage ever shot</a>. </p>
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<p>Meanwhile, US Late Show host Stephen Colbert used a live stream of his hijacking of the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tv-comedy/stephen-colbert-mocks-donald-trump-at-the-republican-national-convention-during-tv-stunt-20160719-gq8pm9.html">Republican National Convention in Cleveland</a> to mock Donald Trump. </p>
<p>The Black Lives Matter movement, created in 2012, has welcomed live streaming as a way of providing proof that police target black people in the USA. But what of Antonio Perkins, who in June <a href="http://heavy.com/news/2016/06/antonio-perkins-chicago-man-shot-dead-killed-facebook-live-video-youtube-watch-shooting-murder-suspect/">accidentally live streamed his own murder</a> in a park in Chicago?</p>
<p>Are some of these moments too intimate to invite the world to share? How would you feel if your last moments on earth – all your “priceless things” – became what Irish poet WB Yeats called “but a post the passing dogs defile”?</p>
<p>Is watching these unmediated moments mere voyeurism? Or is there something to be learned from them? Security specialist Gavin de Becker argued in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56465.The_Gift_of_Fear">Gift of Fear</a> (1997):</p>
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<p>We watch attentively because our survival requires us to to learn about things that may hurt us. That’s why we slow down at the scene of a terrible car accident. It isn’t out of some unnatural perversion; it is to to learn. </p>
<p>Most times, we draw a lesson: ‘He was probably drunk;’ ‘They must have tried to pass;’ ‘Those little sports-cars are sure dangerous;’ ‘That intersection is blind.’ Our theory is stored away, perhaps to save our lives another day.</p>
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<p>But, sometimes, little is to be learned. The live streams from Nice show little of the carnage, but do say running for your life and filming doesn’t work.</p>
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<p>The live streaming of events on smartphones does not just throw up one more challenge to traditional journalism: it may also change the way a significant minority of the world’s population understands the substantial issues of the day.</p>
<p>Live streaming may even help break down the division between the information-rich first world, and the information-poor third world. But it may also see social media become even more awash with trash and trivia.</p>
<p>This information overload may encourage the resurgence of traditional journalism, with journalists employing their expertise as filters and fact-checkers. (Mind you, filtering live stream footage is labour and cost intensive.) This would, one hopes, see the role of the journalist return to that of a crap-trap and a seeker of truth in a world beset by a blizzard of information. </p>
<p>The availability of live video streams has the potential to undermine the traditional roles of journalism. Breaking stories, being rushed to air by competitive media organisations, are particularly prone to errors. </p>
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<p>The first reports from the Dallas police shootings had up to five snipers: there was just a lone gunman. In Nice, confusion abounded for some hours on the scope of the massacre, the number of persons in the murder truck and gunfire from the truck. The live streams gave us few clues, giving only a sense of immediacy rather than insight to the reports.</p>
<p>While live streaming may better inform the public, it also has the potential to entrench prejudices among the viewers. Selective viewing and rejection of contrary viewpoints could see the <a href="http://example.com/https://www.google.com.au/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=Communication+and+New+Media%3A+From+Broadcast+to+Narrowcast">atomisation</a> of audiences become a wider reality. </p>
<p>Communities that no longer share common values and understandings about the functioning of society are communities ready for schism and destruction</p>
<p>The next half decade will see these issues around live streaming played out in our media as its real social use is assessed. </p>
<p>At its best, live streaming can extend the understanding of events, indeed, even instil more compassion in our community for the woes of others. </p>
<p>At its worst, it may not just weaken journalism but contribute to the dissolution of the social contract.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent O'Donnell hold shares in Fairfax Media.</span></em></p>Tragic and violent events are increasingly being live streamed to the world. Are we learning something from these graphic visuals – or are we wallowing in voyeurism and confirming our prejudices?Vincent O'Donnell, Honorary Research Associate of the School of Media and Communication, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.