Facebook, Twitter remove Shinzo Abe assassination videos

Twitter, Facebook parent Meta and other social media companies scrambled Friday to police videos on their platforms of the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that break rules on harmful content.

Multiple videos of the attack by a gunman who fired a homemade, double-barreled weapon twice at Abe circulated on social media. Some only show the moments before and after the attack while others showed both shots.

Abe, who stepped down in 2020, was shot moments into a speech, airlifted to hospital, and later pronounced dead. Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene.

Twitter said its enforcement teams were working to "address harmful content" relating to the attack by "proactively removing" material that violates its rules, which include restrictions on sensitive media including graphic violence.

Twitter urged users to flag up any potentially sensitive material of the attack so it can take action. Videos of the attack could still be found easily on Twitter many hours after the attack.