Sunday 8th Sep, 2024
Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday said his company would make efforts to prevent posting of incidents similar to the Cleveland shooting where a 74-year-old man was shot by a man who uploaded a video of the shooting on Facebook. While speaking at the company’s annual conference for software developers, the Facebook chief also expressed his sympathies to the family of the shooting victim Robert Godwin Sr. “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin, Sr.. We will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening,” he was quoted as saying by AFP. The Cleveland murder clip, which was the latest in a series of violent criminal videos uploaded on Facebook, was visible on the social media platform for two hours.
The suspected shooter, Steve Stephens, killed himself on Tuesday following a brief pursuit by Pennsylvania State Police officers. The nationwide manhunt had continued for two days, reported Reuters. “After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself,” the police had said on Twitter. Following the grisly incident, Facebook issued a statement saying it would review how it monitors violent clips and other objectionable material. Currently, Facebook relies largely on its 1.9 billion users to report objectionable posts, which is then examined by its thousands of its employees.
During his speech on Tuesday, Zuckerberg spoke on one of the company’s top priority– augmented reality. He told the audience that his company had plans to develop more augmented reality games and other uses. One of the ideas shared at the conference included people being able to use the technology to leave a virtual note for a friend at a bar. “This isn’t just about finding a Pokemon in a one-block radius,” Zuckerberg said.