Bishop stabbing video watched by Southport killer still live on X, inquiry told
The clip viewed by Axel Rudakubana minutes before the Southport murders remains on X with a sensitivity warning, the platform's safety lead confirmed.
Bishop stabbing video still on X despite Southport inquiry scrutiny
The video of a bishop being stabbed that Axel Rudakubana watched minutes before killing three girls in Southport in July 2024 remains available on X, the Evening Standard reports from the ongoing public inquiry.
Sheen Handoo, X's compliance and safety lead, confirmed to the Southport Inquiry's second phase that the footage is "still live and is subject to the sensitivity warning" for adult users in the UK. She said the clip does not violate the platform's policies and that X "cannot make judgment" on content based on standards outside its own rules.
Rudakubana, 20, is serving a life sentence for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine; Bebe King, aged six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven. He was also convicted of the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July 2024.
The inquiry's second phase is examining how violence-fixated individuals are managed and the role of the internet in influencing and enabling attacks. Handoo, who joined X in 2020 when the platform was still called Twitter, opened her testimony with a statement of condolences.
"I would first like to offer my sincere condolences to the victims, families and everyone in Southport that was affected by this horrific attack," she told the inquiry. "I do understand the impact of these events must have been impossible to imagine, and that they have my deepest sympathies."
Inquiry counsel Richard Boyle noted it was "the first expression of regret that we have had from X about its very close connection to the Southport attack" and asked why nothing had been said before. Handoo replied that she was present to provide evidence and that extending condolences was "the right way to initiate this conversation," adding she could not speak on others' behalf.
Boyle then pressed Handoo on whether her expression of regret extended to an apology from X specifically for the fact that Rudakubana watched the Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbing video minutes before leaving his home to carry out the attack. Handoo declined to characterise it in those terms, saying instead that the platform's content moderation decisions are "solely based on our policies and our enforcement guidelines."
"This particular video — while it's unfortunate that people may have viewed this video before committing a certain crime — it does not violate our policies and we cannot make judgment based on… that are outside of our policy," she said. "And so we continue to have this video on our platform, but with a sensitivity warning because it does not cross the line into gratuitous gore."
Handoo, who previously managed Meta's public policy in India and later Singapore before joining X, was questioned on whether the platform had reviewed its approach to the video following the Southport attack. Her response indicated no change in the platform's position, citing its long-standing enforcement protocols.
The hearing forms part of a broader examination of how online content and social media platforms may have shaped Rudakubana's actions in the lead-up to the attack. The inquiry continues.
Source: Evening Standard