Who Will Stop It? Who Will Allow It? Public Responsibility in the Age of Violent Videos - The Impact and Countermeasures of Increasing Violent Videos on Social Media

Preface: The Image Reaches You Faster Than Your Will

The moment you open social media, violent videos stream in without your intention. Before you can stop your finger, your brain is taken to the "scene." Now, such "unwanted viewing" has become commonplace, casting a long shadow over society's atmosphere and our emotions. A local station in Montana, USA, has pointed out the accelerating trend of "unfiltered distribution" of extreme videos and the risk of repeated viewing eroding empathy. Psychologist Michelle Hill warns that repeated exposure to violent content leads to emotional numbness and decreased empathy for victims.KPAX News

Case Study: What the Utah Shooting Video Revealed

On September 10, 2025, during an event at Utah Valley University, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead. The footage of this heinous act, witnessed by thousands, spread across platforms within minutes. While the media was cautious in its handling, on social media, it "multiplied instantly," bypassing warning labels and age restrictions, with visibility on social media surpassing that of news reports.ABC News

The speed of dissemination also exposed the wavering boundaries of "what platforms will tolerate." Researchers have pointed out the flaws in the application of each company's policies—loopholes that allow content to remain under the guise of "newsworthiness" or "public interest."WIRED

How Platforms Responded

Immediately after the spread, each company responded as follows:

• Meta (Facebook/Instagram/Threads): Posts praising or supporting the incident were removed. They explained that age restrictions (18+) and warning screens would be applied to the footage.Fox News

• YouTube: Implemented the removal of "explicit gore videos" without context and age restrictions, prioritizing the visibility of news sources.The Free Speech Center

• TikTok: Announced measures to avoid "unexpected viewing," such as reducing exposure on For You, adding warning screens, and strengthening the removal of gruesome close-up footage.Los Angeles Times

Yet, the video survived through "countless reposts," highlighting the disparity between the careful consideration of news editing and the speed of social media's optimization algorithms.PBS

Social Media Reaction: The Clash Between Division and "Etiquette"

1) Voices Against "Spreading"

Calls to "stop sharing for the sake of victims and their families" spread across X (formerly Twitter) and other social media, with voices expressing disgust and anxiety over autoplay without warnings. While news organizations refrained from handling "explicit scenes," the "unstoppable chain" continued on social media, becoming a topic of debate.The Independent

2) Voices for "Preserving as a Record"

On the other hand, there were voices supporting the display with certain context from the perspective of "public interest" and "recording the perpetration." The reality that platform exceptions for "news value" and age restriction measures inadvertently ensure visibility is also a point of discussion.WIRED

3) Political and Social Reactions

Statements calling for video removal and further regulation emerged from both ruling and opposition parties and state government officials. Particularly, there was a shared sense of crisis that "social media numbs humanity," with conservative politicians notably calling for deletion and non-display. The Governor of Utah strongly criticized the role of social media in recent attacks on public figures.Al Jazeera

4) Radicalization and "Secondary Damage"

There were instances where mocking behavior at memorials spread, leading the university to take strong measures such as canceling student enrollment. The chain of videos showed that it could also become a hotbed for imitation and ridicule.Houston Chronicle

The Psychological Mechanism: Why Do We "End Up Watching"?

Hill points out "desensitization through repeated exposure." As the speed of scrolling fingers increases, the "presence" of screams and gunshots weakens, and instead, the instantaneous shift of interest to "another video" becomes habitual. This is also a learning process that treats victims as "elements on the screen"—making it difficult for the "switch" of empathy to turn on. For children and young people, the greatest risk is that this learning coincides with the formative period of interpersonal emotions.KPAX News

In a World Where We Still "Watch": What Families, Schools, and Communities Can Do

Hill recommends dialogue accompanied by "emotional verbalization" rather than "complete blocking." Unravel together where surprise, fear, anger, and sadness come from, and reconnect to the fact that there is "someone's life" beyond the footage. The accumulation of small dialogues in families and classrooms puts a halt to the flow of desensitization.KPAX News

Can Rules Keep Up: Redefining Content Regulation and "Public Interest"

While each company's policies continue to be updated, the balance point between "public interest" and "minimization of secondary harm" remains unstable. The focus of discussions in the UK and US is shifting to how to suppress content that is "harmful" even if not illegal, and how to prevent accidental viewing by minors.AP News

Ultimately,we ourselves "edit" our timelines. Turning off autoplay, muting or reporting misinformation, and setting viewing rules with family. Just as much as algorithm optimization, individual and community "digital etiquette" is being questioned.