WARNING – UPSETTING CONTENT – Images reportedly showing the severed head of an accident victim in Edinburgh’s Cowgate were circulated around the world in the wake of the death on Saturday night.
Social media giant X has come under fire for initially ruling that shocking images of a fatal accident in Edinburgh were permissible on its platform. The gruesome pictures, which reportedly depicted the severed head of a victim following a tragic incident on Saturday night in Edinburgh’s Cowgate, went viral globally.
Numerous Scots expressed their horror both online and directly to X after encountering the disturbing images and footage that appeared to show a decapitated head and a body without a head lying in the street. Despite the widespread outrage and distress this caused, X, now under the leadership of tech mogul Elon Musk, defended the content as not violating their sensitive media policy, reports the Daily Record.
After users lodged complaints with X, the company responded by sending out messages asserting that the material was allowable. One such message to those who complained read: “Thanks for…using your voice to make X better for everyone. After review, we want to let you know (unidentified twitter user) hasn’t broken our sensitive media rule.”
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It continued to explain, “We allow sensitive content – like consensually produced adult content, graphic imagery and violence – in posts as long as it doesn’t break our sensitive media policy.”
The message also advised users on how to avoid seeing such content: “What can you do? If you don’t want to see sensitive media on X, you can update your sensitive media settings. Please report child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity separately. And if there’s sexual violence in this post, please report it as violent. We have zero tolerance for those kinds of behaviours.”
A Scottish woman expressed her distress after her “For You” page on X was flooded with disturbing footage. She stated: “I reported endless X posts to Twitter, which were repeatedly popping up on my For You page, following the horrendous fatality on Cowgate. I had read the BBC report so the algorithm assumed I wanted to see all the horrendous other content being shared. Just shocking.”
The woman had taken action in response to a police request, on behalf of the family, to report anyone sharing the horrific content on social media. However, when she complained to Twitter, she was told that the content did not violate their community guidelines.
She criticised Twitter’s policies, saying: “Clearly anything goes, despite their reporting policy options purporting to include gratuitous and sensitive content. It’s a cesspit.”
Following an inquiry, X confirmed that they had taken action against the gruesome posts on their site. Although some posts from the weekend still contained videos of the severed head, the videos themselves were deleted and could no longer be played.
In some cases, screengrabs of the video and a blurred-out picture of the head remained on the site. An X spokesperson stated: “These posts were actioned under X’s policy regarding Violent Content.”
A 74-year-old man was tragically hit by a bus in the crowded Cowgate area of Edinburgh on Saturday night, leaving bystanders in shock.
The accident occurred around 7.25 pm, prompting the police to shut down several streets nearby. The incident also saw scotland>Police Scotland take to social media to appeal to the public for sensitivity after disturbing photos and videos were circulated, causing distress to the bereaved family.
Chief Inspector Trisha Clark stated: “We are aware of videos and images circulating on social media which are causing distress to the deceased’s family. We would ask members of the public not to share them out of respect for his family and to report them to the relevant social media platform to prevent further circulation.”
She reassured residents by adding, “There has been a lot of speculation and I would like to reassure the local community that this was an isolated incident and there is no risk to the wider public. This was a tragic incident. We are investigating a crash.”
Social media users expressed their disgust over the sharing of the graphic content, with complaints flooding in about the insensitivity shown. One individual implored others to remove the material: “Police are saying to delete these immediately as the poor man’s family are seeing them on social media. If you have an ounce of empathy, take it down now @PoliceScotland.”
Meanwhile, another comment read: “Those images shared from the Cowgate, Edinburgh reconfirms for me that the social media age is utterly shameful and the worst of times. How people can mock and use that for fun is abhorrent. How far we have fallen.”
Another commented: “You should be ashamed of yourself for sharing this.”
