SEEKING PEACE

Father of Journalist Murdered On-Air in 2015 Files Complaint Against Facebook

Alison Parker’s killer uploaded footage of her death online. More than six years later, Facebook has yet to remove it.

Facebook has failed for more than six years to remove horrific footage of a CBS-affiliated journalist being killed on air—so the reporter’s father has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. A video filmed by the man who gunned down Alison Parker as she was reporting in August 2015 has circulated on Instagram and Facebook for years. Executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, have repeatedly promised they would remove all copies and prevent future uploads. That has not happened, and a team of volunteers continues to help her father, Andy Parker, to flag the footage when it crops up online.

Parker demanded the FTC take action on Tuesday. As hoaxers and conspiracy theorists continue to promote the killer’s GoPro footage and the station’s raw feed on social media for monetary gain or shock value, the filing condemns Facebook’s inaction, saying that it puts “the onus on victims and their families to do the policing of graphic content—requiring them to relive their worst moments over and over to curb the proliferation of these videos.”