Facebook explains why Cleveland killer Steven Stephens' brutal murder footage was only taken down TWO HOURS after broadcast
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Facebook has explained how Cleveland killer Steven Stephens' brutal murder footage was allowed to stay online for more than two hours before it was taken down.
The social media giant came under fire for how long the harrowing footage remained available for the world to see.
Stephens uploaded a video showing himself shoot Robert Godwin Jr, 74, dead in cold blood - minutes after an initial video boasting about his intent to kill someone.
He then began a Facebook live broadcast in which he confessed to the murder and tried to justify the killing.
But it was two hours and 11 minutes after the shooting video was uploaded before his account was deactivated by Facebook.
(Photo: Twitter)
The random killing sparked a police manhunt spanning five US states - and Stephens claims to have killed more than a dozen other victims .
Justin Osofsky, Facebook's vice-president for global operations, today explained the technology giant's position.
In a statement, he said: "On Sunday morning, a man in Cleveland posted a video of himself announcing his intent to commit murder, then two minutes later posted another video of himself shooting and killing an elderly man.
"A few minutes after that, he went live, confessing to the murder. It was a horrific crime - one that has no place on Facebook and goes against our policies and everything we stand for."
He continued: "As a result of this terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible.
"In this case, we did not receive a report about the first video, and we only received a report about the second video - containing the shooting - more than an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted.
"We received reports about the third video, containing the man’s live confession, only after it had ended.
"We disabled the suspect’s account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the murder video - and two hours after receiving a report of any kind. But we know we need to do better."
(Photo: Facebook)
Mr Osofsky added: "Keeping our global community safe is an important part of our mission."
Stephens remains at large and police have offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Cleveland Police chief Calvin Williams said: "We’re still asking Steve to turn himself in, but if he doesn’t, we’re going to find him.
“I’m very optimistic. I think things are going to happen, and I believe they’re going to happen very quickly.
“We’re using all investigative tools at our disposal.”
It was reported earlier today that detectives are investigating a “ping” from Stephens’ phone in Parma, Ohio, on the southern edge of Cleveland.
A reported sighting of Stephens in Philadelphia - that led to the evacuation of several schools - turned out to be a false alarm.
(Photo: Getty Images North America)
Read Facebook's statement in full
On Sunday morning, a man in Cleveland posted a video of himself announcing his intent to commit murder, then two minutes later posted another video of himself shooting and killing an elderly man. A few minutes after that, he went live, confessing to the murder. It was a horrific crime — one that has no place on Facebook, and goes against our policies and everything we stand for.
As a result of this terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible. In this case, we did not receive a report about the first video, and we only received a report about the second video — containing the shooting — more than an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted. We received reports about the third video, containing the man’s live confession, only after it had ended.
We disabled the suspect’s account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the murder video, and two hours after receiving a report of any kind. But we know we need to do better.
(Photo: CLEpolice/Twitter)
In addition to improving our reporting flows, we are constantly exploring ways that new technologies can help us make sure Facebook is a safe environment. Artificial intelligence, for example, plays an important part in this work, helping us prevent the videos from being re-shared in their entirety. (People are still able to share portions of the videos in order to condemn them or for public awareness, as many news outlets are doing in reporting the story online and on television).
We are also working on improving our review processes. Currently, thousands of people around the world review the millions of items that are reported to us every week in more than 40 languages. We prioritize reports with serious safety implications for our community, and are working on making that review process go even faster.
Keeping our global community safe is an important part of our mission. We are grateful to everyone who reported these videos and other offensive content to us, and to those who are helping us keep Facebook safe every day.
Facebook's timeline of events
11:09AM — First video, of intent to murder, uploaded. Not reported to Facebook.
11:11AM — Second video, of shooting, uploaded.
11:22AM — Suspect confesses to murder while using Live, is live for 5 minutes.
11:27AM — Live ends, and Live video is first reported shortly after.
12:59PM — Video of shooting is first reported.
1:22PM — Suspect’s account disabled; all videos no longer visible to public.