Pat Holloway has seen her share of destruction during a 30-year career as a photojournalist. But this weekend, she said in an interview, she had had enough. When graphic images began circulating on Twitter showing bloody victims of a mass shooting at a mall in Texas that left at least nine people, including the gunman, dead, she tweeted at Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, demanding that he do something.
“This family does not deserve to see the dead relatives spread across Twitter for everybody to see,” Holloway, 64, said. Holloway was one of many Twitter users who criticised the social network for allowing the grisly images — including of a blood-spattered child — to spread virally.
“This family does not deserve to see the dead relatives spread across Twitter for everybody to see,” Holloway, 64, said. Holloway was one of many Twitter users who criticised the social network for allowing the grisly images — including of a blood-spattered child — to spread virally.
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It isn’t just the graphic images of the Texas shooting. Even the entire episode of the gruesome Tihar jail killing had been posted by several Twitter handles. The micro-blogging site must put suitable checks in place to ensure that such gruesome images and videos are not uploaded. They brutalise viewers.
Facebook’s parent, Meta,and YouTube’s parent, Alphabet, have invested in large teams that reduce the spread of violent images. Twitter, on the other hand, has scaled back its content moderation since Musk bought the site last October, laying off full-time employees and contractors on the trust and safety teams. Twitter did not respond to requests for comment.