Australian legislation requiring social media companies to quickly remove abhorrent violent material cannot be used to stop the viral spread of a suicide video currently circulating on TikTok, the eSafety commissioner’s office has said.
Schools in Australia on Tuesday alerted parents to a viral video showing an American man killing himself. Versions of the video lured users in with footage of kittens or something else innocuous, meaning children had little chance of looking away before seeing the gruesome act.
The video was first broadcast live on Facebook in August, but has since been widely shared on TikTok. In calling for its removal, prime minister Scott Morrison said the laws and standards of behaviour for the real world must also apply online.
“Platforms like TikTok need to put in more resources to detect and tear down this sort of harmful content. That is their responsibility,” Morrison said on Wednesday.
However, legislation passed in the wake of the Christchurch massacre to compel the removal of violent abhorrent material from platforms like TikTok cannot be used.
The law, passed last year, required the companies to alert the Australian federal police about abhorrent violent material circulating on their platforms, and to quickly remove it or face fines of up to $10.5m or 10% of turnover for companies, or up to $2.1m and/or up to three years jail for individuals.
The eSafety commissioner has been empowered to notify the companies of the material, triggering an obligation to take it down.
Videos of suicide, however, do not fit within the legal definition of abhorrent violent material.
“The video is not considered abhorrent violent material – because it is not violent terrorism, murder or attempted murder, rape, torture or kidnapping,” a spokeswoman said.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is investigating reports of the video and working with social media companies to remove the video and limit the spread.
At the time the legislation was passed last year, the Digital Industry Group – a lobby group representing Facebook, Google and Twitter – warned it was passed too hastily without enough consultation with industry on how it would work in practice.
A spokeswoman for TikTok said the platform’s systems had been automatically detecting and flagging the clips, and accounts have been banned for trying to repeatedly upload clips.
“We appreciate our community members who’ve reported content and warned others against watching, engaging or sharing such videos on any platform out of respect for the person and their family,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Facebook said the original video was removed last month on the day it was streamed, and automation technology has been used to remove copies and uploads since then.
The eSafety commissioner has used its power to compel platforms to remove material 20 times relating to 12 pieces of content.
Support services are available at:
Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800 (all day, every day)
Suicide Callback Service – 1300 659 467 (all day, every day)
eHeadspace - 1800 650 890 (9am-1am daily)
Lifeline - 13 11 14 (all day, every day. Online support 7pm-4am daily)
Beyond Blue – 1300 22 4636 (all day, every day. Online support 3pm-midnight every day)
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
