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On Monday, Facebook announced intentions to implement new content review policies after a video posted on Easter Sunday captured the shooting death of Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old Cleveland resident.

Facebook’s Vice President of Global Operations, Justin Osofsky, released a statement announcing the platform’s intentions to modify processes, and addressed why several videos posted by Steve Stephens, Godwin’s confessed killer, remained on the site hours after the shooting.

“As a result of this terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible,” Osofsky’s statement reads. “In this case, we did not receive a report about the first video, and we only received a report about the second video — containing the shooting — more than an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted. We received reports about the third video, containing the man’s live confession, only after it had ended.”

Stephens, a 37-year-old Cleveland man released a series of disturbing videos Sunday on Facebook–the first announced his intentions to kill, a second video showed Godwin’s death, while a third video captured his confessional and a proclamation of more killings. The videos launched a riptide of fear locally and abroad, prompting critique from social media users who felt the platform lacked urgency in removing the videos.

Stephens remains on the run as officials launched a nationwide manhunt in pursuit of his arrest. Authorities announced a $50,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.

You can read Ofosky’s full statement here.

SOURCE: Variety

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