r/technology • u/anonskeptic5 • 14h ago
Politics Tech platforms face a ‘no-win’ choice with livestreamed execution
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/14/tech-platforms-livestreamed-execution-01117372107
u/Saneless 14h ago
Adults in my state can't see boobs but hey at least my kids see nothing but gambling ads and can see people die on YouTube
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u/mcmonky 3h ago
This, even though the White House is finally seeing reason and normality on this issue, is a serious moral pivot point on where we are as a symbol of something, anything aspirational.
We used to be a North Star for the world. Now we are a toilet, or worse. I think that the world thinks that this is a short term thing, but anyone connected knows that this will take a really long time to fix.
Unfortunately our entire culture now thinks that it’s OK to be corrupt and shitty. All sides. All now it’s all out front when it used to be hidden and back-room.
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u/Oceanbreeze871 14h ago
This shouldn’t even be a choice. you don’t show it
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u/liright 12h ago
But I want to see it and so do a bunch of other people
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u/BBanner 12h ago
Just because you are bloodthirsty does not mean your average person is
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u/liright 12h ago
Humans are all naturally curious about seeing violence. Ancient Romans were at least honest about it, gladiator fights were a normal thing. We still have violence literally everywhere in society, some of the most popular movies and games show brutal violence, but yeah they're not real so people can feel morally superior about themselves that they're not one of those "barbaric" people that enjoy seeing violence, even tho they literally do enjoy watching it.
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u/squishee666 11h ago
Honest question, what kind of a take is that? The public execution is to instill fear, not to entertain you. It sounds like you don’t understand what is happening, and I’m not saying that from a high horse of morality. The language surrounding it all implies ‘terrorists are to be shot’. Hey, didn’t that term recently get its official definition updated? Like, so most people could be lumped in there? Oh wait, what do we do to them again? Shoot them, that’s right.
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u/Aranthos-Faroth 7h ago
I love Reddit where someone uses gladiator fights from 2000 years ago as a justification for watching a man get murdered in 2026.
Gladiatorial fights were brutal but mostly about athleticism. Unless you were Nero.
But my guess is your knowledge of ancient Roman games stops at Russell Crowe
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u/Bulky_Preparation768 6h ago
You are talking about a defenseless man in a wheelchair getting shot a bunch. Barbaric is being generous.
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u/Zaxxon_Klaxon 12h ago
So?
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u/liright 12h ago
So? People who don't want to see it already have the option to not see it. People who want to see it should not be prevented from seeing it.
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u/disasteruss 8h ago
Do you realize all the creepy as fuck things that sentence could be about instead? Should those things be free rein too?
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u/LoganHowlett1832 10h ago
A bunch of people want to see people getting butt fucked. That doesn’t mean Facebook has to allow it. Any platform that allows kids on it shouldn’t host any porn or murder videos. It’s fucking crazy that right wingers think a kid seeing a gay person is immoral and should be banned but kids watching someone be murdered is cool.
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u/Blackgunter 10h ago
Rethink your life choices......
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u/liright 10h ago
Nah, I'm pretty damn happy in life.
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u/Blackgunter 9h ago
By looking at the misery of others to feel better about yourself? You wouldn't know happiness if it slapped you in the face.....
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u/Greifvogel1993 10h ago
What’s the difference between witnessing the execution vs. reading about it?
Since the outcome is the same either way, what is your motivation to want to witness it specifically?2
u/Hatefulvesper 9h ago
You know what? Sure, let them show it. Let people get more comfortable with real blood and violence. Maybe then the guillotine will make a comeback and we can do as the french did and drain the swamp ourselves
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u/Pickled_Fridge 12h ago
Probably a good opportunity for Pied Piper’s lossless compression algorithm
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u/OlDirtyBrewer 13h ago
Wouldn't showing something like that be against terms and conditions.
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u/bigchungusprod 12h ago
Yep, it is and the whole public debate is an exercise in bad faith from the media, the tech platforms, and everybody with money, power, or influence.
The only reason it’s even being considered is to soften up the populace for the next step in the slide.
What that step is largely depends on American apathy and or willingness to exercise our constitutional rights.
Power to the people. I hope we rise up. ✊
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u/RockyMountainMobile 5h ago
Televised executions of the invaders of this country aren’t too far off. Lot cheaper to kill them than deport them.
Could also do pay per view mass executions of death row inmates. That sounds pretty metal. Maybe with some sort of robot spider or lasers. Like set the world record for public executions in a day.
Could even do it saw style, where they get given a chance to repent and earn life in prison by mutilating themselves for entertainment.
Maybe seeing people die will fix some of these soft folks around the country. Seem to be bothered by all sorts of nonsense like half naked women or horror movie trailers on tv. Like half the country is going gay or something.
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u/cyclemonster 13h ago
Why would it be a difficult decision to enforce your own policies?
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u/WashedSylvi 9h ago
Money
Randos posting snuff isn’t likely to be watched by most
One of the most powerful governments in the world however…
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u/BeyondRedline 13h ago
Would they allow any foreign government to livestream an execution? No? Well, there you go.
Which government is doing it is irrelevant to the discussion, in my opinion. I understand why it very much is relevant to them, but I'm saying it shouldn't be.
Standards are standards.
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u/vrxz 11h ago
Big Tech brought this upon themselves. Twitter, Facebook/Insta, and Youtube all banned or restricted the fascist immediately after January 6, 2021 when he loosed a mob on the capitol and tried his hardest to overturn a free and fair election. They did so by citing their own Terms of Service.
Then Elon bought Twitter and 2 years after they banned Trump, they all reversed their decisions.
Now you see big tech CEOs groveling, changing the names of bodies of water on maps, changing AI to SI so they don't upset Orange Julius. Anything for that sweet sweet government contract money. Elon is slowing/pausing Starlink to help his buddies Trump and Putin, and he will be rewarded handsomely for it.
They also regularly allow AI-manipulated or fabricated lies on their platforms, much of it from Russian or other overseas bot farms. It makes their engagement look good to advertisers and moderating or removing it would land them in hot water with the MAGA fascist Republicans currently in power. AI is only supercharging the mass-manufactured fear and lies that MAGA relies on to win elections and keep their grip on power.
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u/Fitherwinkle 14h ago
It’s like picking up a loaded fucking pistol and aiming at your dick and thinking “Fuck. Damn. Shit. If only I had one good option here”.
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u/anonskeptic5 14h ago
I don't understand how China can block any mention of Ai Wei Wei from the internet but US companies can't block a live execution. I thought US tech companies were supposed to be the best.
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u/Secret-Chapter-712 14h ago
Presumably because China’s government wants the block in the former case and the US government does not want the block in the current case. If they don’t play nice they won’t get their cushy government contracts or lax regulation enforcement or tax breaks or bailouts.
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u/nmay-dev 13h ago
The articles author also points out how litigous the free market maga warriors are.
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u/Bulky_Preparation768 6h ago
Except they are all bad at their jobs and get cases thrown out constantly.
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u/SSJ2-Gohan 5h ago
The problem with that is that the defendant still has to pay to hire an attorney and show up in court to argue that the plaintiff's case is meritless in order to get it thrown out.
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u/cyclemonster 13h ago
They definitely can decide not to show it. They have editorial rights and agency.
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u/trogdors_arm 10h ago
Yeah it’s weird how porn can be watched in certain states yet we can live stream an execution. Sure.
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u/gascyl 13h ago
Ban it completely. The moment Death is promoted on Facebook, is the moment millions of soccer moms, grandparents, and normal people cease using Facebook. Trump will not allow Facebook to just have a public execution in the background. It will be a paid political promotion on the front page of everyone's feeds, even if they are children, since the us government is a trusted, verified news source. Facebook would be immediately associated with Death and Gore as Twitter now is, and normal people will walk away. So will all the brands dependent on normal, family values engagement - ie, J&J, P&G, GM and Maytag who do not want their products associated with Death. Facebook users have a choice and will leave. So will everyone else on other platforms such as Youtube. And, because the stream will stay up as a video, the video will be on the platform forever and cause big problems as AI brand algorithms take over and delist the entire site because of it.
It really is that simple. Trump will throw a fit but he'll be gone in 2 years vs permanently destroying your brand.
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u/FanOfMondays 12h ago
Don't threaten me with a good time. Everyone leaving Facebook sounds amazing!
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u/Adventurous_Egg_9500 2h ago
No, I like FB, without the 95% of political trash shoved in my face.
I had a friend from college lose 100 pounds, travel the world doing photography. I had no idea, for years, because Facebook isn't about friends anymore.
It's just ALLLLLLL fucking groups you don't follow, of the opposite fucking spectrum to rage bait you.
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u/anonskeptic5 10h ago
Strange we haven't heard from any of the tech companies saying they wouldn't show it.
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u/KnotSoSalty 12h ago
Don’t show it… how is this a thing? You can’t possibly sell ads on an execution, no advertiser will want to be associated with it.
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u/Warm_Record2416 12h ago
Oh let us shed a tear for the poor and noble tech platforms, who through no fault of their own, must now choose betwixt two horrid fates. Do the suck off the tyrannical overlord who demands their strongly held morals bend to the whims of the state? Or do they, I dunno, have to survive a few mean tweets that will cause an intra-day 1% dip in the share price.
Truly, one for the ages.
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u/randomtask 9h ago
>Experts told POLITICO they believe the decision could hinge on the midterm elections and the political consequences of enforcing — or setting aside — their rules.
That this is even conditional on political outcomes is insane. No intentional depiction of death. Period. These too big to fail companies are scared about losing their advantage as if they’re a tiny leaf adrift in the wind, and we’re supposed to just let them wring their hands and feel sorry for them? Fuck that.
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u/BoredTech127001 13h ago
They should just tell the truth... they spent years training their AI to take down violent streams and there isn't enough time to retrain their AI before the execution so they are not going to carry it because it would just get taken down by the AI, sorry I mean the Super Intelligence.
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u/Cyber_Faustao 9h ago
If the social media emperors had even a shred of respect for humanity they would disable all livestreaming for that day, just on principle since people will rebroadcast this everywhere. Take a fucking stand, anything except whoring themselves for the dolar for a single day would be nice
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u/Booty_Bumping 1h ago
Experts told POLITICO they believe the decision could hinge on the midterm elections and the political consequences of enforcing — or setting aside — their rules.
Holy fuck they are such cowards. Frozen on such an obvious decision because they chose to embed themselves in MAGA.
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u/SxToMidnight 8h ago
How in the fuck is this a "no-win" situation?! Don't air a public execution. But I assume they're just not wanting to miss out on that sweet, sweet death money.
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u/crossy1686 11h ago
"Oh well if we don't show it then someone else will and then our shareholders will be unhappy", just fuck off please. I hope every platform goes completely bankrupt.
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u/sdrawkcabineter 12h ago
No, they don't want to ban it so they can use it as a propaganda tool.
They're working on the 2 minute hate.
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u/chocolatesmelt 9h ago
I don’t have sympathy, they played a game to curry favor.
The fact is no one is going to care and they’ll do the analysis and realize people are going to be less upset about big tech chasing money and power and more upset about the US government continuing its fascist trajectory. The fact the US government have, recorded, shared and attempted to stream it will be the headline. The places reporting on it or sharing it can just feign “news” mostly.
What they’ll inevitably decide to do is some half-appeasing solution, they’ll censor the violent part when it happens and the aftermath by blurring the content most likely. We streamed it but didn’t share the violence, yada yada.
It’s interesting how full on dependent the Republican Party and its special interests have decided to cave to fascism for their own gains. That isn’t to say the Democratic Party is flawless (they do tend to have some limits though when chasing money.), we need serious political discourse and upheaval in this country.
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u/jc0155 14h ago
No, there's a win. You do the right thing for once and tell the tangerine toddler to go pound sand. Ban anyone who shares the video.