Ardern Says Will Seek to Discuss Live-Streaming With Facebook

Tracy Withers, Bloomberg News

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - MARCH 17: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media at Parliament on March 17, 2019 in Wellington, New Zealand. 50 people are confirmed dead and 36 are injured still in hospital following shooting attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, 15 March. The attack is the worst mass shooting in New Zealand's history. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) , Getty Images via Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will take up the issue of live-streaming of last week’s terrorist attacks in Christchurch directly with Facebook Inc.

“This is an issue that goes well beyond New Zealand but that doesn’t mean we can’t play an active role in seeing it resolved,” Ardern told reporters in Wellington Sunday. “This is an issue I will look to be discussing directly with Facebook.”

Social media platforms are facing harsher scrutiny after a shooter accused of killing 50 people live-streamed the murders, with the video widely available on a range of platforms hours after the attack. Facebook removed 1.5 million videos globally in the first 24 hours, it said in Twitter posts Sunday, citing New Zealand spokeswoman Mia Garlick.

Ardern said New Zealand authorities and businesses did as much as they could to seek to have removed some of the footage, but ultimately it was up to those platforms to facilitate and support the removal.

She said she has previously met Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, who sent her a message of condolences after the attacks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net, ;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey