Canadian police said on Wednesday they are investigating whether a beating captured on video, reported to have been distributed through social networking site Facebook, may be connected to a young woman’s murder.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The video is the latest example of Facebook being used to document violent crimes, a pattern that has led the company to re-evaluate some of its policies.
Thailand police on Wednesday said they would consider how to quickly remove inappropriate online content after a man broadcast himself killing his 11-month-old daughter on Facebook.
Last week, the company said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage after a posting of a fatal shooting in Cleveland, Ohio was visible for two hours.
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The Canadian video showed someone kicking a woman in the face while a second person held back her arm from defending herself, according to Winnipeg Free Press, and was shared through Facebook, according to several media reports.
Reuters has not seen the video. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Sgt. Paul Manaigre said it may have been shared directly between people on Facebook, not posted for public viewing.
RCMP are reviewing the video to determine whether it is linked to a weekend murder at Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, Manaigre said.
“To me, the video is shocking, that someone can stand there and watch it and not assist,” Manaigre said.
Those who film crimes without aiding a victim could be charged in Canada with being an accessory, but the act of posting such videos is not illegal, he said.
Police have charged two girls, ages 16 and 17, with the second-degree murder of a 19-year-old woman in Sagkeeng, an aboriginal community 100 kilometres (62 miles) northeast of Winnipeg.
Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson could not be immediately reached for comment.
