Facebook Live And The Coming Regulation Of The Internet

facebook live

When a woman used Facebook Live to show the aftermath of the police shooting a black man in a car with a crying child in the back, the world took notice.

The video fueled the hate of Micah X who killed five Dallas officers and wounded six more.

The ISIS supporter who shot up an Orlando nightclub also used Facebook supposedly to promote his allegiance to the terrorist organization.

The Internet is changing how we interact with one another and how we consume news, but more importantly it is changing our sense of what is right and wrong.

The judicial system moves too slowly for the court of public opinion. Social media moves so much faster.

Look what happened last summer. Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. “Eye witnesses” claimed that Michael Brown was shot with his hands up screaming “don’t shoot”. The term “hands up, don’t shoot” went viral.

The news spread like wildfire and Obama weighed in before all the facts were gathered. Riots ensued and protest sprung up around the country, even though a grand jury would eventually find the officer innocent.

Fast-forward one year. Cops in Baton Rouge killed a black man selling CD’s in front of a convenience store. The video was instantly shared online and became viral.

Within 24-hours, a Facebook Live video became viral after another black man was shot by an officer.

Americans saw the crime with their own eyes. They saw Philando Castile die on Facebook Live. And we saw the video of Alton Sterling in shock and dying after being shot point blank range in the chest.

Opinions were made quickly and in the wake of a sniper killing five officers in Dallas, the divide in this great nation is growing quicker by the minute.

Protests, riots, arrests, shootings and we are seeing a level of outrage on both sides that we have not seen in a long time.

What would happen if the Orlando shooter who swore allegiance to ISIS turned on Facebook Live and streamed his killings live? Is that something we really want to see? I don’t want to see that, but I also don’t want someone else deciding what I can and cannot see.

The Internet has become dangerous to the powers that be and it is live streaming that scares them the most. In the case of Philando, without the Facebook Live recording there is a very good chance that the officer would not face charges. He still might not; we don’t know the full story.

What we do know is that because of the video, the officer who shot Philando has had death threats and is on paid leave. The Facebook Live video changed the story and that kind of power scares the people who have the power.

Theoretically, anybody with a smart phone with a video camera and Facebook can live stream breaking news that could alter the world. What if one of the Zodiac Killer victims was using Facebook Live during an attack? Do you think people would still think that Bernie Sanders is the Zodiac Killer?

Facebook Live offers a unique challenge for police officers who need to do a job, and now everywhere they go, people are shoving cameras and phones in their face trying to record or stream the next viral video of police brutality. Citizen journalists are making it hard for police to do their job.

What could be next? Will there be new regulations proposed to stop people from being horrified and haunted by watching people die in videos?

It is possible the police will either be given a device that can temporarily neutralize phones for a short period or there will be heavy regulations on streaming put in place.

We know the Democrats want to take our guns away, but could the bigger play be to take control of the information we see on the Internet?

Do you think that people should have the right to make up their own mind if they want to watch something or not? Let us know in the comments below.

Morgan is a freelance writer for a variety of publications covering popular culture, societal behavior and the political influences of each.