Facebook: We Won't Take Down 'Baby Abuse' Video

Child protection groups want UK government to step in
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2015 2:28 AM CDT
Facebook: We Won't Take Down 'Baby Abuse' Video
A worker inside Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

Child protection groups are horrified by a video that they say shows a baby being badly mistreated—but Facebook says it doesn't breach the site's rules and it will not be removed. The video shows a screaming baby being shaken and twisted as she's swung around by her legs and cheeks and dunked in a bucket of water dozens of times over the space of a couple of minutes, the BBC reports. A Facebook spokeswoman says that while the video is "upsetting and disturbing," "people's desire to raise awareness of behavior like this" means it will stay online, though a warning message has been added. A company rep tells the Mirror that the video "depicts a form of baby yoga" and no breach of the rules was found after careful review.

Britain's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children says such "dreadful and disturbing" content has no place on social networking sites and has asked the government to intervene, the BBC reports. The identity of the baby is unknown, and police in Toronto say they looked into the matter after the video was reported to them, but there is no indication that the child is Canadian and their investigation has hit a "dead end," the Toronto Sun reports. The video may have originated in Indonesia, according to the Telegraph, which notes that it was reported for nudity as well as violence. (After complaints in 2013, Facebook reluctantly agreed to take down a beheading video.)

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