Twitter shuts Virginia suspect's account after he posts footage of journalists' shooting
Twitter has closed an account purporting to belong to the man who shot two members of a Virginia-based WDBJ7 news crew after he posted horrifying footage of the attack.
Following the shooting of reporter Alison Parker and videographer Adam Ward live on the air at a Virginia shopping centre early on Wednesday morning, the gunman gained notoriety by uploading his own footage of the attack.
Twitter’s autoplay feature and the rate at which the content was retweeted meant that many social media users saw the disturbing footage - without an opportunity to opt out.
The incident brought into question the automatic implementation of autoplay on videos. Many social media users were critical.
Today's events sparked discourse on how to curb the virality of such content in the future.
Twitter and Facebook's autoplay feature has serious questions to answer today
— Matt (@MattNavarra) August 26, 2015Incidents like the shooting in the US moments ago highlight the serious m issues with autoplay video on social networks like Twitter.
— Matt (@MattNavarra) August 26, 2015News organisations do have a moral obligation to consider what video they post on social. Even more so with auto play on Twitter.
— Matt (@MattNavarra) August 26, 2015Auto play IS an issue on social networks, because graphic video content is NOT just tweeted out by news orgs. Others may have less morals.
— Matt (@MattNavarra) August 26, 2015I'm not opposed to shocking videos appearing on the Internet. Just don't make it autoplay and give warning. Banning it creates a 'market'.
— Oscaron (@oscaron) August 26, 2015Social media users used to make a choice not to view harrowing videos, it is dangerous that in stream autoplay takes that option away.
— Neal Mann (@fieldproducer) August 26, 2015Perhaps Twitter could turn off autoplay video for a few hours.
— Lara O'Reilly (@larakiara) August 26, 2015Horrific. Do not go looking for this & be warned of autoplay - in posting it killer wants the publicity & views. https://t.co/xSexDnfmdn
— Neal Mann (@fieldproducer) August 26, 2015how to stop videos autoplaying in twitter: settings>account>content>video tweets>untick 'video autoplay'.. probably a good idea today
— Mike Bithell (@mikeBithell) August 26, 2015Twitter and Facebook autoplay videos made me witness the murder of someone from multiple angles today. Good job technology
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 26, 2015twitter needs to stop autoplaying videos by default right now now https://t.co/58CEgze6Pv
— nathanjurgenson (@nathanjurgenson) August 26, 2015How to disable video autoplay on Twitter: 1. Go to Settings 2. Select video autoplay menu 3. Select "never play videos automatically"
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) August 26, 2015The video was shared on Twitter from an account using the name Bryce Williams. Twitter acted quickly in banning the account at 14:20 (GMT).
Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe confirmed that the gunman,was a "disgruntled" former station employee.
#breakingnews Virginia governor says suspected shooter is disgruntled former employee of TV station. He is currently being pursued by police
— Brad Bell (@ABC7Brad) August 26, 2015
The Drum has reached out to Twitter for comment.