Perspective: In Finland shooting, fallout for YouTube?

By Greg Sandoval Published: November 7, 2007 2:20 PM PST See all Perspectives

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perspective Seven children and one adult were shot and killed at a school in Finland, and the teen who police say did it posted several threatening screeds on YouTube prior to his rampage.

Predictably, some media outlets are already producing stories that imply Google's YouTube is a scary place where hateful polemics can be broadcast, unmolested by more thoughtful minds.

That's terribly unfair. What people should remember is that YouTube did not glorify the teenage gunman who went on the killing spree in Finland early Tuesday morning. Nor did the world's largest and most influential video-sharing site help him spread his angry message. Nonetheless, in the wake of yet another senseless shooting on a school campus, people will be looking for scapegoats.

The alleged shooter, 18, posted a video called "Jokela High School Massacre" to YouTube shortly before opening fire on classmates at Jokela High School in Tuusula, located about 30 miles north of Finland's capital Helsinki, according to a report in Britain's The Telegraph. Eight students and the school's principal were killed, according to the publication. The young gunman shot himself, and later died from the injuries.

Blaming YouTube in such a situation would be equivalent to holding the U.S. Postal Service responsible for delivering the messages sent by the Zodiac Killer.

"Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy," said Jaime Schopflin, a YouTube spokeswoman. "We have removed the video and disabled the user's account."

The video was posted under the shooter's YouTube username, Sturmgeist89. It showed a photo of what is believed to be Jokela High School, the Telegraph reported. The photo dissolves to reveal a picture of a man pointing at the camera with a gun. YouTube has removed the video and others posted under Sturmgeist89, and has suspended the account, which was believed to belong to the gunman. Sturmgeist means "storm spirit" in German, according to Britain-based publication Metro.

Should YouTube have done something to stop this? Was the company responsible for sounding alarms? Or does a public forum like YouTube embolden disturbed people to seize the limelight through violent action?

Blaming YouTube in such a situation would be equivalent to holding the U.S. Postal Service responsible for delivering the messages sent by the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer believed to have murdered at least five people in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Zodiac sent taunting letters to authorities and local newspapers bragging about the killings, and threatening to do more. He was never caught.

The list of self-glorifying killers, pre-YouTube, goes on, of course. Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, sent long, antitechnology rants to newspapers. He even got two publications to print one of them, though it was in an effort on their part to avoid further bloodshed.

For a teenager today, posting a YouTube video is like sending a letter to the local newspaper. Want to get your message out, no matter how terrible it is? You don't need to mail a letter, just post a video.

So what's YouTube's role? YouTube is a tool anyone can use, not an edited newspaper. It's policed by the community that uses it. If something is indeed offensive, it can be removed. Yes, it's a change from the old days, when a few people controlled who gets to speak at the bully pulpit. This is the democratization of information. No one gets to control who gets to say what anymore.

According to the Metro, many of the same materials that the alleged gunman posted at YouTube were also up on his own Web site. In fact, you could argue the evidence that there was something wrong with this young man was there for everyone to see. Apparently, the right people didn't notice.

But should YouTube be dragged into the muck of a killer just because he posted some videos there? No way.

Biography
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment.

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26 comments (Page 1 of 2)

WHAT IS CNET SMOKING!
by Noah Diehl November 7, 2007 5:20 PM PST: Who is saying anything bad about YouTube? This is completly made up dude...I am sorry but any time I read something on C-NET this is always something VERY wrong with it...you guys need to end your news section, this is complete bull and you know it. No one has attacked, or said anything bad about YouTube....really guys, if you are going to make this stuff up please don't call it news. I really hope you don't feel like you earned your pay check today.; Reply to this comment View reply
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YouTube: You Must Be Blind and/or a Total Tool....
by ryyannon November 7, 2007 5:45 PM PST: "Predictably, some media outlets are already producing stories that imply Google's YouTube is a scary place where hateful polemics can be broadcast, unmolested by more thoughtful minds." I regret the somewhat insulting header, but your lack of familiarity with some of the worst aspects of YouTube is in itself insulting when coming from someone who theoretically should know better. I mean, do you ever read the news? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SWPFJTY1PKVGXQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/11/07/nutube107.xml Check out these sweet vids, courtesy of Google/YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8W4nBAFXBk http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=abdullah1425 Just a few examples of many similar that can be found there, apparently all with Google/YouTube's blessings: despite numerous complaints - month after month - they are never taken down, nor are the authors' accounts ever suspended. We're far from the realm of unhappy teenagers sending threatening letters via the USPS to the editor of their local paper... What's your take on these videos, Mr. Sandoval? Or don't they fit the template?; Reply to this comment

You're joking, Right?
by Maverick1961 November 7, 2007 7:10 PM PST: Your analogies suck! First of all the USPS does not read the mail they send. Youtube is supposed to be monitoring the items which are posted on their site. That is completely different. They are are least partly to blame, and are probably complicit! They should have at least attempted to contact authorities at the school, to check into this student, to see if he was a threat to them! This is just another Yahoo incident! "We're not to blame!" Except this time people were KILLED!; Reply to this comment View reply
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I agree totally
by pretzelogic November 7, 2007 7:51 PM PST: The story is big with the youtube slant/spin prevalent...media is subject to viral sensationalism and this is unfair to youtube. Maybe it was the movies he watched or the violent TV shows or the goth heavy metal rap blah blah blah available...don't forget video games..maybe it was the onslaught of another Finnish winter but this has nothing to do with youtube.; Reply to this comment

YouTube did not kill
by cyberpunk1_m November 7, 2007 8:15 PM PST: Allow me to start with the fact, I do not condone in any manor or form whatsoever the heinous acts that have been committed by this or any other man or woman. Furthermore, if you have such thoughts of gratuitous violence... please seek help! In short, any moral person would like to destroy or eradicate the very spirit that invoked such a heinous act. However, suffice to say, philosophically, killing the proverbial "Messenger" will not stop the problem. Nor will burning paper because it held the words of a racist, crush the rock of The Ten Commandments because someone does not believe or silence the speech of a race because of one difference or another. After all, destroying the medium that is used to convey the discourse does not solve the problem. Ultimately, the last medium will be the voice of another that is connected to a thought.; Reply to this comment

Apparentle CNET & I have the same dealers...
by jennnnnnnnn November 7, 2007 8:16 PM PST: I agree with Greg Sandoval here...Come on people, think about it. How many people are posting to YouTube? How many videos per day? Things that are offensive are probably removed after they're complained about - just like this incident. We asked for democracy & we got it. We can't start blaming people, corporations and others just because we don't like what someone is saying, period. The video itself sounds like it was cryptic with no real message until AFTER the shootings occurred. Personally, I haven't seen it, but from the way it's been described by all news outlets, it certainly sounds to me like it really could have meant anything. Could've even been a commentary on school shootings themselves. Creative people are generally strange and their messages are strange also. Censor them & all you have left is man-made creativity - not an original thought in the bunch. If that's what we're aiming for, then seriously - I don't want to be an American anymore. Bottom line...I still stand by democracy. Don't censor what you are afraid of. We, as a people, were so terrified of Socrates that we made him drink poison. But his thoughts & teachings will be remembered for generations. Most people can only dream of having that kind of impact. Writing books, becoming president and teaching in itself wouldn't even guarantee it. I think YouTube did the right thing here. They saw a cryptic video and thought, "Ehhh...I have no idea what he's trying to say. Post it." So it was a mistake. Are you crucified for all your mistakes? Would you like to be? Funny. I thought Jesus died for our mistakes. Do we really want to put YouTube in that category of infalliable? Find a religion and follow that if you really feel the need to blame someone for senseless acts - not some Corporate Conglomerate. Any religion. I don't care which, just blame your God. Trust me, he can take it. If he really cared about what we thought of him he'd have smited all of us by now - especially me. Catholics cringe at the way I disrespect my god, yet I see it as an incredibly healthy way to keep myself going.; Reply to this comment View reply
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You Tube
by SensibleStupidity November 8, 2007 1:40 AM PST: If youtube is guilty of anything, it has to be giving us (the general population) a place where we can apply our rights to freedom of speech. If youtube comes in for criticism, then all the news media should also be shut down for their roles in misleading the entire world everyday with the one sided "honest" propoganda they try to push on us. It's coming, one world, one government, one media, long live youtube.; Reply to this comment

Finland? They have guns and YouTube There?
by Terryl Chapman November 8, 2007 5:58 AM PST: Finland seems far far away but this horrible school shooting, it's tormented teen and its Youtube connection will make us all realize that it's a small world after all. www.thehurlyburly.blogspot.com; Reply to this comment

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007
by Eskiegirl302 November 8, 2007 6:13 AM PST: According to supporters, the measure will play an important role in helping government and law enforcement officials understand and prevent domestic terrorism. In a speech on the House floor advocating passage of the bill, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) -- the coauthor and initial sponsor of the measure -- warned that the next time the U.S. faces a terrorist threat, "my assumption is that many who attack us will already be here, and some will be US citizens." To prevent that attack, she said, the new "legislation will help the nation develop a better understanding of the forces that lead to homegrown terrorism, and the steps we can take to stop it." Critics of the measure allege that it is a thinly veiled and dangerous attempt to criminalize dissent. Such concern is based on the bill's vague and open-ended language that, critics say, could be used by the government to trample basic rights to free speech and assembly and turn legitimate dissent into thought crimes. The legislation, for instance, defines "violent radicalization" as "the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change." The bill makes no attempt to define what an "extremist belief system" might be. Nor does it define the action of "facilitating ideologically based violence." In its section on key findings related to homegrown terrorism, the measure gives lip-service to constitutional rights, but also singles out the Internet and its open market for the flow of ideas and information as part of the problem. According to the measure, "The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens." The unspoken threat implied by that passage is that the government might have to clamp down on free speech online. "At base," wrote retired Col. Dan Smith in Counterpunch, "Harman's proposal seems to be a direct attack on First Amendment rights." Bill Status: H.R. 1955 passed the House by a landslide vote of 404-6 on October 23, 2007 (Roll Call Vote 993). The bill has been received by the Senate and was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The John Birch Society opposes the passage of vaguely worded legislation that could lead federal agencies to arbitrarily define some modes of thought as one or more varieties of "extremist belief systems." In the 18th Century, the British government of King George III certainly believed as much about the manner of thought adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The John Birch Society believes the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act will have a substantial chilling effect on both free speech and thought and that the Senate should reject the measure. Recommended Action: 1) Contact your senators using the alert below. Ask them to oppose the passage of H.R. 1955. 2) E-mail this link to others in your sphere of influence, ask them to voice their opposition to H.R. 1955 as well. taking action: http://www.capwiz.com/jbs/issues/alert/?alertid=10528846 How many more of our freedoms and liberties do we have to lose before people wake up and smell the coffee? Our government has shredded the constitution (it doesn't mean it is gone, it only means that people have been dumbed down for so long they already think that the government is there to take care of them. Well, its not. The government is there to make you as miserable as they possibly can. Our economy is near to collapse now. Jim Rogers reports this. You can see it everywhere you go. The high gas prices, which affects everything else. Your food, your clothing, ect. If we don't take control of our country, right now, and I do mean NOW, we are going to be in problems the likes of the country has never seen. Our right to bear arms is the next measure. The constitution strictly forbids that government infringes on that right. The forefathers protected us well, but if we do not protect our constitution, you might as well get prepared to live under a dictatorship government because that is exactly what they are trying to do. Government was created by the people, to protect the citizens and their rights. And that is the ONLY thing they are supposed to do. They do not do this. If you don't watch them and let them do what they want, your freedoms and rights will be gone, they are already doing this. Taking away your rights and liberties. We cannot let this happen. If you don't be careful and put the correct leaders in the white house, they will be only too eager to relieve you of your burdens of freedom. You only need to look at Pakistan today to see where we are heading. There will be chaos like the people have never seen before. UTube is a communication tool. They will try to take that too. It is not what is right in front of you that you need to hear. What you think you hear is not what is. You must research on these politicians, on the war, on our economy, on everything you can think of. Look around you. Gas prices, high prices at stores, labels they give things to make it seem that something is bad when it only is a step to take yet more of your liberties and rights. Google Ron Paul. Google Michael Badnarik. Look at candidates running for the presidency who are telling you what the government is doing. Ones who are honest about it. Check their voting records and research their backgrounds. We have only the one man who truly stands for what "We the People" are feeling and saying. That is Ron Paul. The media is not giving him the attention because he stands and fights for US. He is the ONLY republican who voted against the war, higher taxes, and many other things. Watch his videos. The only time he is mentioned on the tv is when he raises significant amounts of money (he just raised 4.2 million) or makes history (did that too) You all need to really know what is happening to you and your lives. The government is not here to make you safer. How are we safer when our borders are wide open? No military here to protect us on our shores and borders should we be attacked. This is not a pretty picture. But then government is not roses.; Reply to this comment View reply
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Senseless shooting followed by senseless claim!
by wbenton November 8, 2007 6:20 AM PST: Are they trying to purport that if YouTube weren't there, that the incident wouldn't have happened? (* ROFLMAO *) As sad as the actual shoot out may be, the ignorance of so many pointing fingers at YouTube makes me just as sick to my stomach. In fact, it's due to the blatant ignorance that allows such thought which also assisted the shooter... in fact... probably more-so than YouTube did! (* SMIRK *) Walt; Reply to this comment

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Perspective: In Finland shooting, fallout for YouTube?

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