TikTok Struggles to Remove Disturbing Suicide Video Users Keep Posting on Platform

Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images

The video of a man who livestreamed his suicide on Facebook Live last month has spread to TikTok, where children have reportedly been exposed to the graphic clip after being recommended by the app’s algorithm to watch it.

According to reports, TikTok has been removing copies of the video since they emerged on Sunday and banning users who upload them, however some users have been masking the clip to trick others into watching the suicide.

The video reportedly shows Mississippi man Ronnie McNutt shooting himself in the head with a shotgun while sat at his desk, before the Sheriff’s office breaks into the room.

A TikTok spokesperson told the Verge, “Our systems have been automatically detecting and flagging these clips for violating our policies against content that displays, praises, glorifies, or promotes suicide.”

“We are banning accounts that repeatedly try to upload clips, and we appreciate our community members who’ve reported content and warned others against watching, engaging, or sharing such videos on any platform out of respect for the person and their family,” they added.

The BBC documented the video’s effect on one 14-year-old girl who stumbled upon the graphic clip after it was recommended by TikTok’s algorithm.

“She was in such a state, shaking like a leaf and properly sobbing,” claimed the girl’s mother. “I have never seen her that distressed. It was horrific and took ages to get the words out of her.”

“She was scrolling through songs and funny videos when a bearded man in a white shirt appears behind a desk,” she continued, declaring, “My daughter was in a state of shock, still is in a state of shock and this could stay with her for months.”

Facebook Live has a history of being used to livestream suicide, murder, and torture.