US Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at Utah Valley University earlier in the week, with uncensored footage of his assassination still being circulated online.
Multiple videos across various social media platforms show the moment the 31-year-old was shot in the neck, and Kirk can be seen bleeding profusely after the event.
Utah’s governor has named Tyler Robinson as the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, after a major manhunt.
How are these graphic videos allowed to be uploaded to social media sites like TikTok and X, and why are they still circulating days after the incident occurred?
Barrister and senior council Ronan Lupton said that social media sites are not held accountable for the content they display in the same way that traditional news outlets would be.
“The law both in America and in Europe protects the platforms from liability for content posted on their systems,” he told Lunchtime Live.
“Effectively, literally anybody could put up content and unless the platform is made aware of the content – in other words, somebody reports it – then as far as they’re concerned, they don’t know about it and they’re not liable.
“What we have is a situation with various types of content which is lawful and awful and which fundamentally, I think, relates to the video of Mr Kirk being assassinated.
“I did see the content myself on Twitter and it shouldn’t be there in this day and age; platforms like X and Meta and various others have AI technology, they should take this content down.”
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However, listener James pointed out that social media has the ability to show people on-the-ground perspectives of situations across the world that may be missed in mainstream news reporting.
“On one hand, it isn’t healthy for people to be consuming the violent content, especially young people, teenagers and whatnot,” he said.
“But on the other hand, a lot of the situations and the horrendous atrocities that are going on, whether it’s Gaza, various other countries in Africa or South America, whatever; it’s not being shown by some mainstream media outlets.
“Some [outlets] are doing documentaries on it, but a lot of them aren’t.
“If it wasn’t for the ability of individuals to post it on X or Facebook or whatever, there’s a lot of situations that essentially would fall under the radar.”
James said that one of the downsides of individuals having such easy access to graphic footage is that it has “rewired how people approach situations”.
Main image: The American Comeback Tour at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. Featuring Charlie Kirk and Riley Gaines. Image: Scott Chernis. 6 May 2025
