Sky New Zealand has pulled its fellow independently-owned broadcaster Sky News Australia off air due to the distressing footage of the Christchurch mosque shooter’s Facebook live stream.
“We stand in support of our fellow New Zealanders […] to ensure coverage doesn’t compromise ongoing investigations in NZ", Sky New Zealand tweeted on Saturday.
We stand in support of our fellow New Zealanders and are working with our colleagues at @SkyNewsAust to ensure coverage doesn’t compromise ongoing investigations in NZ. We made the decision on Friday with Sky News Australia to replace their live news with sport.
— SKY New Zealand (@SKYNZ) 16 марта 2019 г.
READ MORE: Alleged New Zealand Mosque Gunman 'Brenton Tarrant' Livestreamed Entire Shooting
New Zealand police, in turn, stated that they know that the “extremely distressing footage” of the Christchurch massacre continues to circulate online.
“We would strongly urge that the link not be shared. We are working to have any footage removed,” police pointed out.
Police is aware there are distressing materials related to this event circulating widely online. We would urge anyone who has been affected by seeing these materials to seek appropriate support.
— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) 15 марта 2019 г.
Meanwhile, Facebook, Twitter and Google are facing scrutiny after reports that hours after the Christchurch attack, copies of the footage were still available on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, as well as Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp despite the social media giants’ claims that they had removed the videos.
READ MORE: What You Need to Know About Mosques Shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand
Multiple weapons and a stash of ammunition were reportedly filmed by the man, who called himself Brenton Tarrant, in the 17-minute video which showed him arming himself, walking into a mosque and shooting indiscriminately in the Christchurch attack in New Zealand which left 50 people dead and 48 more injured.
