A man has live-streamed his own death on Facebook with TikTok now scrambling to remove the clip which is being reshared by-users. Ronnie McNutt, 33, killed himself in his Mississippi home on August 31, by blowing his own face off with a shotgun, while he was live streaming from his computer.
Facebook say the video was taken down the day it was streamed but it has since been widely shared on TikTok with the app trying to shutdown re-uploads that can quickly become viral.
There are reports that the video appeared on TikTok’s “For You” trending homepage, which would have made it harder to avoid the footage.
On TikTok, the For You page shows popular content sourced by an algorithm that plays automatically, including from unfollowed accounts. Many users are advising friends to disable auto-play features in all app settings to avoid encountering the footage.
Countless social media users have claimed they unintentionally saw the clip, and have warned others not to click on the thumbnail, which shows a bearded man with glasses speaking to someone on the phone.
A TikTok spokesperson said:
“On Sunday night, clips of a suicide that had been livestreamed on Facebook circulated on other platforms, including TikTok.
“Our systems have been automatically detecting and flagging these clips for violating our policies against content that displays, praises, glorifies, or promotes suicide.
“We are banning accounts that repeatedly try to upload clips, and we appreciate our community members who’ve reported content and warned others against watching, engaging, or sharing such videos on any platform out of respect for the person and their family.
“If anyone in our community is struggling with thoughts of suicide or concerned about someone who is, we encourage them to seek support, and we provide access to hotlines directly from our app and in our Safety Centre.”
Clips of the video were spread quickly on other sites, with reports that it has been going around 4chan for the last few days, before making its way to TikTok. YouTube and Twitter have not commented about whether those social media companies are working to take down the video.
Facebook said:
“We removed the original video from Facebook last month, on the day it was streamed, and have used automation technology to remove copies and uploads since that time.
“Our thoughts remain with Ronnie’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
