Facebook Users Upset by Video of Baby Dunked in Water

A video that appeared to show a crying baby being held upside down and dunked in a bucket of water has upset members of the Facebook community.

While some have asked Facebook to remove the video, the social media platform has said that it is not in violation of policy. Its U.K. policy director, Simon Milner, told BBC Radio 4 that since the video “is being shared to draw attention to and to condemn what’s happening and ideally to try and help this child then yes, there is a place for it on Facebook.” By contrast, “If it was being shared to praise it or make fun of it then absolutely not and in cases like that we will take it down.”

The video apparently shows “baby yoga”, a controversial technique supposed to imporve the mind and physique of babies that originated in Russia.

Facebook has added a warning message before the video, but critics say that is not enough. The U.K.’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) says that social media sites like Facebook should be “held to account for the content on their sites and pay more attention to their safeguarding duties to protect children and young people, whether they are viewing the content or appearing in it.”

Milner says Facebook has been in contact with the authorities who are hoping to find the child depicted in the video, and that in the past, sharing content like this on the Internet “can and does lead to the rescue of the child.”

[BBC]