Facebook took down the account of ‘Rambhakt’ Gopal, a man accused of shooting a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi on Thursday, saying the social network has no place for violence.
A Facebook page in the assumed name of the man featured a livestream video of him advancing towards the university, where protests are going on for the past two months against the new citizenship law. The police later gave his name as Ram Bhagat Gopal Sharma.
“There is no place on Facebook for those who commit this kind of violence. We have removed the gunman’s Facebook account and are removing any content that praises, supports or represents the gunman or the shooting as soon as we identify it,” a Facebook company spokesperson
Facebook said it is working with law enforcement in India to support their investigation, and upon learning of the attack, its teams designated the attack as an act of mass murder.
The company defended itself by saying that the gunman did not use Facebook Live during the shooting, and the FB Live content shared prior to the shooting did not expressly indicate his intent to carry out this violent act.
Last year, Facebook said it is tightening access to live streaming to prevent the rampant sharing of graphic video as it took place with the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand.
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