12-Year-Old Katelyn Nicole Davis’ Suicide Video Is Proliferating Widely On The Internet, And The Authorities Can Do Nothing About It

(Editor’s note: The video has not been posted here out of the consideration for the deceased and her family.)

Georgia girl Katelyn Nicole Davis took the horrifying step of live streaming her suicide online a couple of weeks ago, and now the internet is struggling to bury the disturbing video for good.

On December 30 last year, Katelyn, a 12-year-old girl, live streamed her death from the front yard of her home in Cedartown, Georgia, People reports. The video, which lasts a little over 40 minutes, sees Katelyn hang herself from a tree after apologizing to some of her classmates and her family. Before anybody can help her, the young girl commits suicide even as the video is live streamed to her friends and family members. The disturbing suicide video ends with Davis’ mother calling her name off camera.

Three days prior, Katelyn had published a diary entry online alleging that a family member had sexually and physically abused her. Although she does not mention the name of the relative in the video, the authorities are investigating her complaint and the probable reasons that could have pushed the lively young girl to such a point of desperation.

Katelyn Nicole Davis suicide video is going viral – and cops are powerless to stop it https://t.co/gox8pPQcWB pic.twitter.com/kUOT9Ls3rd

— ZULEYDI P (@zuleydi_perez) January 12, 2017

Katelyn used the live streaming mobile app, Live.me, to broadcast her death, which is said to be popular among American teens. Before Live.me could take down the video, it was downloaded multiple times and shared on sites like Facebook and YouTube, where it was viewed several thousand more times before the respective sites acted and removed the video. In fact, Facebook, which censors or deletes videos after a human moderator checks the content for meeting/violating their community guidelines, took almost two weeks to take down the video.

Now the video, despite continuous efforts from the side of the Polk County Police to take it down every time it is uploaded on some new site, continues to proliferate widely, and even a quick Google search is enough to find the disturbing suicide video online. The fact is that no police can regulate the content on the Internet, and while it is up to the judgment of publishers to use it or not, the unending curiosity means several sites are able to rake money out of the traffic the video gives them, effectively meaning it could never be taken down completely.

But the fear, apart from the obvious distress such a video would cause Katelyn’s family members and her close friends, is that it could have a hugely negative impact on other kids, who might have undergone similar experiences.

Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd urged the Internet to stop proliferating the suicide video out of the consideration for Katelyn Nicole Davis’ family, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. He conceded that the authorities are powerless in stopping the video from being shared or uploaded.

“We want it down as much as anyone for the family, and it may be harmful to other kids. We contacted some of the sites. They asked if they had to take it down and by law they don’t. But it’s just the common, decent thing to do in my opinion.”

The Polk County Police Department also released an official statement on the video, asking sites to self-regulate themselves.

https://www.facebook.com/PolkCoPD/posts/734856393355051#

But while Katelyn Nicole Davis’ suicide video might never disappear from the internet, it should have been the responsibility of sites like Facebook and YouTube to regulate the content as quickly as possible. It is easier said than done, of course, but one is left wondering if Facebook could have acted more promptly in getting the video removed.

Kyle MacDonald, a New Zealand-based psychotherapist, who was among the first ones to notify Facebook about the video’s disturbing content, wrote in The Guardian said that Facebook showed an irresponsible apathy towards the video or the victim despite continuous reminders from his side.

“In subsequent communications, Facebook also claimed that because it is not hosting the video, it is not responsible. This is despite the fact that due to its inaction the links were widely available on Facebook for anyone to see long after I reported the problem. It has not been verified that the video is authentic but whether it is or it isn’t, the content of the video shows a child committing the most serious act of self harm and is not appropriate for public viewing.”

“After nearly 20 years working with suicidal people I have a particular view on whether this is something that people should be watching: we should not. What community would find this acceptable?”

The family of Katelyn also had a message for the people who are sharing or uploading the disturbing video on the Internet, asking them to share tributes for the young girl rather than the suicide video.

“I get the fact that people want to spread awareness about depression and I stand up for that 100% because I know how real it is, but spreading a video showing a… girl do the absolute unthinkable is not the way to do it. Please remember that we (her family) already have to live with it and having that video pop up every time we turn around is NOT what we need right now.”

“For those who have showed our family nothing but compassion, I would like to say THANK YOU. It is a very difficult time for us all and your support is greatly appreciated.”

“May you finally rest in peace.”

[Featured Image by 279photo/iStockPhoto]