Facebook says it got no reports of New Zealand mass shooting livestream

Fifty pairs of white shoes line up as a memorial to the victims of Friday March 15 mass mosque shootings in front of a church in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Four days after Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history, relatives were anxiously waiting for word on when they can bury their loved ones. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Facebook said Tuesday it received no reports of the video of the Christchurch mosque attacks while it was being live-streamed by the gunman.

Chris Sonderby, vice president and deputy general counsel at Facebook, said “no users reported the video during the live broadcast,” which was viewed fewer than 200 times. ”

Sonderby said in a blog post that Facebook removed the video “within minutes” of being contacted by police, and it was watched about 4,000 times in total before being taken down. He also said Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of the attacks in the 24 hours after the event.

Social media companies rely on the public to report objectionable comment. Facebook has come under fire after video of the shootings spread rapidly on the internet.

Meanwhile, police in New Zealand said they have completed autopsies on all 50 victims of last week’s mosque shootings, and have formally identified 12 of them. Six of the identified victims have been returned to their families.

Four days after the attack, relatives were anxiously waiting Tuesday for word on when they can bury their loved ones.

Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death, usually within 24 hours. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said authorities hope to release all the bodies by Wednesday, and police have said authorities are working with pathologists and coroners to complete the task as soon as they can.

Police said in a statement that their “absolute priority is to get this right and ensure that no mistakes are made.” /kga