Charlie Kirk’s shooting video spreads on social media: How Google-owned YouTube, Elon Musk’s X and Facebook reacted

Following the tragic shooting of President Donald Trump aide Charlie Kirk at a rally in Utah, graphic videos of the incident quickly went viral across major social media platforms, sparking renewed scrutiny over content moderation policies. According to a report by The New York Times, within minutes of the shooting on Wednesday (September 10), videos were posted on Elon Musk's X and were viewed over 11 million times within two hours. The graphic footage also spread to Meta-owned platforms like Instagram and Threads, as well as YouTube and Telegram, accumulating millions of views.The viral spread of the video has forced major platforms to respond, with varying approaches. Musk-owned X’s official policy prohibits “excessively gory” content but allows it to be posted with a warning label. The company posted online that it “will continue to stand against violence and censorship, ensuring this platform amplifies truth and open dialogue for everyone.”Meanwhile, Musk, who appeared to have seen some of the videos, said in a post, “The shot looked real bad, but I sure hope Charlie makes it somehow.”Google-owned YouTube said that the platform is removing some graphic content and applying age restrictions to other videos to prevent them from being seen by users under 18.“Our hearts are with Charlie Kirk’s family following his tragic death. We are closely monitoring our platform and prominently elevating news content on the homepage, in search and in recommendations to help people stay informed,” the spokesman was quoted as saying. Meta – the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads – declined to comment but some clips on its platforms were found to have been marked as sensitive, while others were not, the report said.Experts say this event continues a long-standing and troubling trend, adding that the proliferation of violent content has become a grim fixture of the internet.“This is the first time such a widely recognised figure has been murdered in such a public way and spread this way on social media,” said Emerson Brooking, director of strategy at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council.