Victims Lament Real-world Violence Fueled By Social Media
On August 25, Hannah Gittings watched in horror as her friend Anthony Huber was fatally shot during a demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to protest the police killing of a Black man at the hands of police.
The events turned violent when an extreme right militia group called the Kenosha Guard called on Facebook followers to “protect” the city, and a 17-year-old member of the group opened fire on Huber with a semi-automatic rifle.
Gittings blamed Facebook for failing to take down what seemed to be a clear incitement of violence.
The page “was left up and not only left up, it was deemed not threatening, not a danger when they’re clearly people blatantly inciting violence, saying they’re going to shoot Black people,” Gittings told a news conference organized by the activist group Avaaz.
The tragic incident highlighted concerns that social networks such as Facebook are being used to foment real-world
