The world was shocked after the video of a 12-year-old girl committing suicide was spread throughout various forms of social media, and especially because Facebook allowed the graphic video to remain on the site for two weeks.

The girl, Katelyn Nicole Davis, live-streamed her 40-minute goodbye video on the popular streaming service Live.Me at the end of December. In this video, the girl confessed that she was suffering from depression and had been sexually assaulted by a family member. For the rest of the video, she said goodbye to her friends and family, then hung herself on a tree.

The video was promptly taken off YouTube due to its explicit content, which the company stated violated YouTube policy. However, the controversy is over why the video was left on the Facebook site, which allowed users to share the video and be seen by thousands across the globe.

The girl’s family, as well as numerous others, demanded local police to take the video down, but they sadly did not have the authority to do so. Facebook claims that the reason for its slow act is to spread realistic news and spread awareness of topics. People who agree with Facebook claim that if videos of police shootings, which are equally as horrifying can be left on these sites as evidence, this video should be left up as evidence of the girl’s sexual assault. This video could be used a proof to prosecute her sexual assaulters and bring her justice.

Olivia Minervini, a sophomore here at WHHS said, “It’s a real shame. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her close family members and friends, especially since the video was online.”