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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Graphic videos of Kirk and Zarutska deaths reignite debate over social
media moderation
By Hadas Gold, CNN
Updated:
8:26 AM EDT, Sat September 13, 2025
Source: CNN
Within minutes of Charlie Kirk’s horrific shooting on Wednesday in
Utah, video capturing the moment a bullet hit his body was spreading
rapidly online.
Surveillance cameras were rolling when Iryna Zarutska was brutally
stabbed on a train in North Carolina on August 22, and the gruesome
full video was later released publicly.
Whether users wanted to see them or not, videos of horrific moments
have been flooding social media feeds over the past week. These videos
have reignited calls for tech giants to exert more control over how
content appears on their platforms as some companies have scaled back
their moderation efforts.
Each platform has its own content rules, especially around particularly
violent content. Most allow some violent content but place restrictions
on especially gory and bloody videos and restrict such content from
younger users.
By default, social media sites like X, TikTok and Facebook autoplay
videos as users scroll, a tactic to immediately grab their attention,
unless the platform has designated them as restricted. YouTube also
autoplays non-restricted content when users hover over the video while
scrolling.
But that can result in users being exposed to very sensitive and
sometimes graphic content.
Even on Thursday morning, videos of Kirk’s shooting were still being
pushed to users’ feeds. Graphic videos of the moment Kirk was shot
were some of the top results when CNN searched for “Charlie Kirk”
on Instagram. On TikTok’s search page, with no prompting, the app
suggested the search terms “raw video footage” and “actual
incident footage,” which immediately linked to graphic videos.
TikTok told CNN that it was removing those search terms and that it had
been removing close-up videos of Kirk’s shooting since yesterday,
although it is still possible to easily find such videos, some with
graphic content warnings. (TikTok said it was continuously removing
such videos.)
“These horrific violent acts have no place in our society. We remain
committed to proactively enforcing our Community Guidelines and have
implemented additional safeguards to prevent people from unexpectedly
viewing footage that violates our rules.” TikTok spokesperson Jamie
Favazza said in a statement.
Not all videos of the shooting will be removed. TikTok’s policies do
not allow “gory, gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent
content,” but some footage — for example, from a distance — may
still be viewable on the platform.
Meta said it is applying a “Mark as Sensitive” warning label to
footage of the shooting and is removing content that glorifies,
represents, or supports the incident or the perpetrator. It also said
it’s restricting such videos to adult accounts.
YouTube said it is removing some graphic videos of the shooting,
including those that lack context.
“We are closely monitoring our platform and prominently elevating
news content on the homepage, in search and in recommendations to help
people stay informed,” a YouTube spokesperson told CNN.
Representatives for X did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
Some online safety activists say existing measures aren’t enough or
are failing. Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project,
which advocates for greater safety measures for young people online,
said videos of Kirk’s shooting are easily accessible for young
people, even in some cases with teen settings and safety precautions
turned on.
A teen Instagram account set up as a test by the Tech Transparency
Project was easily able to access videos of Kirk’s shooting, Paul
told CNN. An Instagram account with the teen settings turned on should
restrict the type of content a young user is able to see.
“The fact that Charlie Kirk was so popular among young people it’s
obvious that young people including teens would be searching for
him,” Paul said. “On Meta’s teen safety accounts, when you search
just the name Charlie Kirk, the very first video that comes up is an
autoplay video of him being shot – it’s incredibly problematic.”
In response to the Tech Transparency Project’s claim, a Meta
spokesperson said in part: “There can be a lag at times in applying
those warning screens when individuals upload slightly different
versions of known videos, and it appears that’s what happened here,
but the issue is unrelated to Teen Accounts.”
Mainstream media, like CNN, usually implement strict standards that
prevent airing or showing such graphic moments on TV or on their other
platforms. These outlets will often edit videos and use other
techniques, like blurring, to protect viewers and the victims. But on
social media, of US adults say they get at least some of their news,
there are no broad standards everyone follows.
Medical experts that being exposed to traumatic and graphic moments can
cause “vicarious trauma,” where one absorbs the trauma experienced
by others, which can directly impact people’s mental and physical
health.
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