It has been more than four years since journalist Alison Parker, doing a live television interview in southern Virginia, was killed when a former colleague walked up and shot her and videographer Adam Ward. Despite repeated requests from her father and others, videos of the slaying remain on YouTube, as do countless other graphic videos that show people dying or that promote various outlandish hoaxes.
Andy Parker has never watched the videos of his daughter’s death, including GoPro footage recorded and posted by the shooter. But he and others have notified YouTube and Google, YouTube’s owner, that the graphic videos continue to exist on the dominant worldwide video platform. “We’re flagging the stuff,” Parker said. “Nothing’s coming down. This is crazy. I cannot tolerate them profiting from my daughter’s murder, and that’s exactly what they do.”
There is no specific law prohibiting YouTube from hosting disturbing videos. So Parker filed a complaint Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission, arguing that YouTube violates its own terms of service by hosting content it claims is prohibited, and urging the FTC to “end the company’s blatant, unrepentant consumer deception.
