Facebook said it removed 1.5 million videos globally of the New Zealand mosque attack in the first 24 hours after the attack.
“In the first 24 hours, we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload,” Facebook said in a tweet late Saturday.
The company said it is also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content out of respect for the people affected by the mosque shooting and the concerns of local authorities.
The death toll in the New Zealand mosque shootings rose to 50 on Sunday. The gunman who attacked two mosques on Friday live-streamed the attacks on Facebook for 17 minutes using an app designed for extreme sports enthusiasts, with copies still being shared on social media hours later.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she wants to discuss live streaming with Facebook.
The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party said on Sunday that social-media platforms must be able to react more quickly and stop the broadcast of live events.
“The social-media platforms which were actually playing a video made by this person who is accused of murder … all over the world, that surely has got to stop,” Jeremy Corbyn told Sky News on Sunday.
“Those that control and own social-media platforms should deal with it straight away and stop these things being broadcast. But that brings into the whole issue of the question of regulation of social media.”