Charlie Kirk shooting videos are pervasive. Experts say platforms should take more responsibility

Within moments of the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, the graphic videos of his murder rippled across social media. The videos were so pervasive many users saw it whether they wanted to or not.

Some experts say social media platforms need to take more responsibility for this type of content.

Two days after Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University, the state’s governor, Spencer Cox, called social media “a cancer.”

“We are not wired as human beings, biologically, historically, we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” Cox said.

He says the video reminds him of JFK’s assassination in the 1960s. And while President John F. Kennedy’s murder was also filmed, it took more than a decade for the public to see the infamous, uncensored reel in full, according to the Sixth Floor Museum. For Kirk, and other recorded violence in the social media age, it’s taking seconds.

Within moments of Kirk being shot Sept. 10, video captured by attendees was being circulated on social media sites like Facebook, X, TikTok and Instagram.

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Lucas Miles, pastor and senior director of TPUSA Faith, speaks during a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Turning Point USA Vice President of Field Operations Andrey Sypher speaks during a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Turning Point USA Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bowyer speaks during a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Jack Posobiec speaks during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Jack Posobiec speaks during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Center for Arizona Policy President Peter Gentala speaks during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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“MAGA Hulk” Stephen Davis speaks during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Attendees shine their phone flashlights during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Rob Clements, pastor and director of ASU Catholic Newman Center, speaks at Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Attendees stand during Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Signs decorate the stage at a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. COO Tyler Bowyer said the center sign was from one of Turning Point’s first events at ASU.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Ashlee Davis speaks to KJZZ reporter Camryn Sanchez before Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Carson Carpenter speaks to KJZZ reporter Camryn Sanchez before Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Bella Keenan speaks to KJZZ reporter Camryn Sanchez before Turning Point USA’s candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Turning Point's Arizona State University chapter holds a vigil event for Charlie Kirk on the Tempe campus Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Turning Point USA staffers register voters during a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Turning Point USA staffers and volunteers wore “I am Charlie” shirts during a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk at Desert Financial Arena on ASU’s Tempe campus on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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A memorial outside Hansen Mortuary in Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, where the motorcade carrying Charlie Kirk's casket went from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Chelsey Heath/KJZZ

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People visit a memorial for Turning Point USA CEO and Co-Founder Charlie Kirk outside the group’s headquarters in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025. Kirk was killed a day earlier during an event at Utah Valley University.

Alexandra Medina/Cronkite News

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Mourners stand with flags across the street from the Phoenix mortuary that received Charlie Kirk's casket on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.

Lindsey C. Riley/KJZZ

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A memorial outside Hansen Mortuary in Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, where the motorcade carrying Charlie Kirk's casket went from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Chelsey Heath/KJZZ

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A memorial outside Hansen Mortuary in Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, where the motorcade carrying Charlie Kirk's casket went from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Chelsey Heath/KJZZ

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Mourners gather to honor Charlie Kirk outside the Turning Point USA offices in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Mourners gather to honor Charlie Kirk outside the Turning Point USA offices in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Mourners gather to honor Charlie Kirk outside the Turning Point USA offices in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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People visit a memorial for Turning Point USA CEO and Co-Founder Charlie Kirk outside the group’s headquarters in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025. Kirk was killed a day earlier during an event at Utah Valley University.

Alexandra Medina/Cronkite News

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Mourners gather to honor Charlie Kirk outside the Turning Point USA offices in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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A memorial to Charlie Kirk at the Turning Point USA campus in Phoenix on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2025 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on July 11, 2025.

Gage Skidmore/CC by 2.0

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People pay their respects to Charlie Kirk at a makeshift memorial at the national headquarters of Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday.



/ Ross D. Franklin/AP

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The Turning Point USA campus in Phoenix on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

Matthew Casey/KJZZ

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Armed Phoenix police officers guard the Turning Point USA campus in Phoenix on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, after the fatal shooting of CEO Charlie Kirk.

Matthew Casey/KJZZ

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Cars parked outside Turning Point USA's Phoenix campus to honor Charlie Kirk on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, after he was shot and killed on Wednesday.

Tim Agne/KJZZ

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The Turning Point USA campus in Phoenix on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

Matthew Casey/KJZZ

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Shane Besore, a Charlie Kirk supporter, is emotional outside the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix on Sept. 10, 2025. Kirk, the group’s co-founder, was shot and killed hours earlier at an event in Utah.

Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2025 Chapter Leadership Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on July 11, 2025.

Gage Skidmore/CC by 2.0

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2025 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on July 13, 2025.

Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

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Charlie Kirk speaks with attendees at the 2019 Teen Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA in Washington, D.C.

Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at an Arizona for Trump rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Aug. 23, 2024.

Gage Skidmore/CC by 2.0

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2024 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center.

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Charlie Kirk speaks at Turning Point USA's annual event, AmericaFest, on Dec. 19, 2024, at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Sam Dingman/KJZZ

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Turning Point Founder Charlie Kirk and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speak with attendees at a Chase the Vote rally in Mesa on Sept. 4, 2024.

Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

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Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2023 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Dec. 19, 2023.

Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

Professor Hazel Kwon is with the Media Information, Data and Society Lab at Arizona State University.

“Traditionally we tend to say,’ OK, news media, journalism and media, they are exerting the gatekeeping power. They decide what to cover or not,” Kwon said. “I think that notion needs to be revisited and rewired.”

She says in the social media age, with many people having a camera and access to a publishing platform at the click of a button, gatekeeping can no longer be just about selective censorship. And social media platforms have a unique role to play by taking control of the algorithm.

“If we exchange the term between content moderation and gatekeeping, nowadays gatekeeping of news content, or whatever the information content, it’s not just about making a judgement over the content, it is about controlling the flow over information,” Kwon said.

She says while social media platforms have content moderators, there is the missing piece of proactive infrastructure.

“I think the question really is: do they have that capability for forecasting?” Kwon said. “For example, journalism newsrooms have the connection with the local police department, for example, so when we report the news, we already sort of know that this event is coming up. So people are ready to monitor and report the situation.”

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Professor Shawn Walker, who teaches in the social data science program at ASU, agrees that social media platforms need to have a bigger role in content moderation.

He says especially when moderators may be working against a built-in algorithm designed to quickly spread engaging content.

“Of course we’re engaging with this content because this is a horrific event,” Walker said. “These videos are horrific, watching this violence is horrific, and also saying, ‘Well, this might be who did this; this might be what happened; did you hear this thing this happened; did you hear this might be a conspiracy theory; this is something else.’”

And with the algorithm doing what it's designed to do, users were left with little choice.

“The video itself was hard to avoid, that's how pervasive this video was,” Walker said. “So we think again about the algorithms that run these platforms, that choose which content you have in your feeds and what you see front and center and so everybody starts watching these videos and then because everybody is watching these videos, people that would not normally see that content, that gets pushed into their feeds.”

Chelsey Heath/KJZZ

He says social media companies need to create environments that support getting accurate and updated information out, and marking trusted sources, especially during crisis events.

“This is an emergent investigation, this is a crisis, this is a traumatic event, but it’s also emergent and we don’t have the information of what happened, how, when,” Walker said. “That’s starting to slowly emerge. And as a part of an investigation, there's always a, ‘We think this happened. Nope — that actually wasn’t what happened; this is what happened.’ That is a part of this process.”

And if that sounds like the role of journalism, Kwon says that journalists should rethink their modern gatekeeping role, as well.

“They have a reduced power in gatekeeping content, but they have an ever expanding importance of playing a role of watchdog of the gatekeeping processes,” Kwon said.

Walker says verification takes time, and in the modern era of social media, breaking news is bypassing the traditional gatekeepers and being fed to an algorithm designed to produce engagement that, in the end, gets reported to investors and generates revenue.