Six people appeared in a New Zealand court Monday. They were charged with illegally redistributing the video a gunman live streamed as he shot worshipers at two mosques last month.
Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll denied bail to 44 year old businessman Philip Arps and an 18 year old suspect who were taken into custody in March. The four others are not in custody. Philip Arps is scheduled to next appear in court via video link on April 26.
The 18 year old suspect is charged with sharing the live stream video and a still image of the Al Noor mosque with the words “target acquired.” He will reappear in court on July 31 when electronically monitored bail will be considered.
Police prosecutor, Pip Currie opposed bail for the 18 year old suspect and said the second charge, involving the words added to the still image, was of significant concern.
New Zealand’s chief censor has banned both the live streamed footage of the attack and the manifesto written and released by Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who faces 50 murder charges and 39 attempted murder charges in the attacks on March 15.
While the attack was live streamed, the video was viewed fewer than 200 times. This is according to Facebook’s Vice President of Integrity, Guy Rosen.
He said that during the live broadcast, the service “did not get a single user report… This matters because reports we get while a video is broadcasting live are prioritized for accelerated review.”
The video was viewed about 4,000 times before Facebook blocked it from the service, he added. The first report came in 12 minutes after the video ended.
The charge of supplying or distributing objectionable material carries a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment
