Zuckerberg Comments on Facebook Live Role in Castile Shooting

Mark Zuckerberg composed a poignant post on Facebook Live’s role in showing the world the shocking shooting of Philando Castile:

Yesterday, a Minnesota woman named Diamond Reynolds went live on Facebook immediately after her fiancé, Philando Castile, had been shot by police in his car. Philando later died from his wounds. In the video, Diamond’s 4-year-old daughter is watching from the back seat.

My heart goes out to the Castile family and all the other families who have experienced this kind of tragedy. My thoughts are also with all members of the Facebook community who are deeply troubled by these events.

The images we’ve seen this week are graphic and heartbreaking, and they shine a light on the fear that millions of members of our community live with every day. While I hope we never have to see another video like Diamond’s, it reminds us why coming together to build a more open and connected world is so important–and how far we still have to go.

Facebook Live, the social media company’s relatively new video platform, has been a highlight of the news surrounding the latest police shooting.
Castile’s girlfriend launched a Facebook Live session as Castile lay bleeding from a Minnesota police officer’s gunshot.

Zuckerberg’s post has amassed to date over 200,000 reactions and comments. The majority of commentators praise the Facebook Live platform for giving average citizens a tool to share news, even disturbing news, with the world.

Facebook Live just fully launched three months ago, yet it is proving a powerful video platform for not only average users, but for celebrities, politicians, and news makers.

The Facebook CEO seems to be sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter cause. Earlier this year, he sent employees an internal memo after discovering that some were altering the “Black Lives Matter” slogan on a message wall at Facebook’s headquarters. A few employees crossed out the phrase “Black Lives Matter” others had written to write “All Lives Matter.” In the memo, Zuckerberg wrote that such action was “unacceptable.”