Facebook admits to Privacy Commissioner it hasn't changed its livestreaming after Christchurch attacks

Facebook has admitted to New Zealand's Privacy Commissioner John Edwards that it has done nothing to change its livestreaming in the wake of the Christchurch terror attacks.

Edwards, who spoke to Facebook today, said he was told they hadn't done anything that would prevent a similar livestream from being shared.

The Privacy Commissioner posted, "To their credit, Facebook did answer my direct question. The answer was "no". Christchurch 15/03 could happen again today. Now. Anywhere in the world."

The social media giant has copped plenty of flak over its response time to the livestream.

Although the livestream, which began at 1.40pm on Friday 15 March, was only seen by a relatively small number of people - by Facebook standards - it was enough for it to be copied, then spread virally through Google-owned YouTube, Twitter and other platforms.

The Times reported today they were alerted to more than a dozen versions of the attack video on Facebook-owned Instagram, with versions also popping up on Facebook as well.

The Commissioner told the Herald he was pleased to receive a delegation from Facebook today but "was disappointed that the company has taken no practical steps to improve the safety of its live streaming service in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Christchurch on 15 March."

In a letter provided exclusively to the Weekend Herald, Facebook's No 2, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, revealed it will restrict those who can use Facebook Live and build better technology to quickly identify versions of violent videos and images and prevent them being shared.

Sandberg said it had found and removed 900 edited versions of the 17-minute video.

"We are exploring restrictions on who can go Live depending on factors such as prior Community Standard violations," Sandberg said.

"We are also investing in research to build better technology to quickly identify edited versions of violent videos and images and prevent people from re-sharing these versions.

"We are also using our existing artificial intelligence tools to identify and remove a range of hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, including the Lads Society, the United Patriots Front, the Antipodean Resistance, and National Front New Zealand.

To their credit, Facebook did answer my direct question.

The answer was “no”.

Christchurch 15/03 could happen again today. Now. Anywhere in the world - #LiveOnFacebook pic.twitter.com/SgAM6CHw2r

— John Edwards (@JCE_PC) April 3, 2019

"And this week we announced that we have strengthened our policies by banning praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram."