FACEBOOK IS UNDER fire after refusing to fully remove a video users were calling “disturbing” and “violent,” but the woman who uploaded the video in the first place is desperate for the social network to keep it live on its platform.
The video in question shows an infant being dunked repeatedly into a bucket of water, feet-first and then later head-first. The baby is screaming, and the adult holding the baby is unidentified.
Facebook has been removing the video if it’s shared in a sadistic way — i.e, if a user shares it along with the comment “LOL” or “this is so cool.” The social network giant has been leaving the two-minute clip up in cases of users sharing it to promote awareness of a crime being committed.
“In cases where people are raising awareness or condemning the practice, we are marking reported videos as disturbing, which means they have a warning screen and are accessible only to people over the age of 18,” Facebook said in a statement.
However people aren’t happy. They want the video gone.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Britain even made a call to action for Facebook to take responsibility for the content its users post.
But the woman who uploaded it in the first place is pleading to have it stay up on the social network.
That woman is Lurleen Hilliard, the CEO & founder of a group called NoLonger Victims, and she told The Independent she was sent this video 10 days ago from an anonymous person in the Philippines.
In her interview with The Independent, Hilliard says “she posted the video online in order to ‘expose’ the abuser and potentially track down the baby.”
“By removing this video, you’re giving that baby a death sentence — if they’re not already dead,” Hilliard explains to The Independent. “The only important thing is finding that baby. If the video is removed, we can’t find the baby.”
It’s gone completely viral on Facebook, but its massive reach has unfortunately been no help to Hilliard. Like most things tainted by digital virality, once the video was uploaded it was grabbed and shared with inaccurate information.
Hilliard’s original video, also posted to YouTube, has only 2,000 views.
The caption, which was posted in all capital letters, reads:
HORRIFYING TORTURE OF BABY POSSIBLY TO DEATH – PLEASE HELP ME & MY ORGANIZATION NOLONGER VICTIMS TO FIND THIS BABY – IT MAY BE TO LATE TO SAVE HIS/HER LIFE BUT WE CAN AT LEAST GET IT JUSTICE IF NOTHING ELSE. THIS IS SOMEWHERE IN INDONESIA, FACEBOOK KEEP REMOVING ALL MY ARTICLES AND VIDEO SHARING SO THEY ARE RESTRICTING WHO CAN SEE THIS. PLEASE PLEASE SHARE & HELP US TO FIND THIS BABY WHO AT THE LEAST HAS TRAUMATIC BRAIN TRAUMA. THIS IS A SICK VILE VIDEO OF A BABY THAT IS IN AGONY, WHO’S SKIN CHANGES COLOR AND WHO SCREAMS UNTIL UNCONSCIOUS FOR NEARLY 2 MINUTES THEN SILENCE. WE NEED YOUR HELP – MAKE THIS VIRAL SO THE WORLD WILL FORCE INDONESIA TO ANSWER OUR EMAILS, ANSWER OUR OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OF INDONESIA & THE GENERAL OF THE POLICE WHO ARE IGNORING OUR REQUESTS FOR HELP. YOU CAN HELP BY SHARING SHARING AND SHARING FORCE THEM TO LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THIS BABY THROUGH YOUR VOICE AND MINE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND PLEASE BEWARE THIS IS VERY VERY DISTRESSING TO WATCH BUT YOU MUST
There have been no leads.
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