An Iraq War veteran who live-streamed his suicide on Facebook shared a tragic final post shortly before the live broadcast began.
Distressing video of Ronnie McNutt's shooting death went viral on TikTok, where it was feared very young children were exposed to the extremely graphic footage.
Shortly before he began the live stream at his home in the US city of New Albany Mississippi, Mr McNutt shared a post on his Facebook page stating: "Someone in your life needs to hear that they matter. That they are loved.
"That they have a future. Be the one to tell them."
Facebook was criticised after the video remained online for some time after Mr McNutt's death on August 31. They have since said it was taken down on the day.
Since then TikTok has been scrambling to block it after it was shared on that platform, with the footage hidden within clips that could have been viewed by children.
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As the video circulated on a number of social media sites, it was listed on TikTok's "For You" trending homepage, it is reported.
Friend Joshua Steen claims Facebook didn’t do enough to prevent the video from being streamed online or to remove offending content about Mr McNutt’s death in the days afterwards.
Mr McNutt had PTSD from his time in the US Army, and was "incredibly drunk" when he killed himself, said Mr Steen, who doesn't think his friend intended to kill himself when he began his last live stream.
After he became aware of the stream as it was happening, Mr Steen sent messages and called Mr McNutt several times, and watched as his friend picked up his phone and declined the calls.
Mr Steen told Heavy that he reported the video while Mr McNutt was still alive, and police were outside the man's home and watching the livestream after being called.
He claims "Facebook could’ve stopped this and didn’t", and said in his opinion the social media giant is “directly responsible” for the video being shared online and going viral.
He also claims he didn't receive a response from Facebook until 11.51pm - around 90 minutes after mr McNutt died. He alleges the video wasn't removed until about 1.30am.
He shared a screen grab of a reply from Facebook, which states: “This post will remain on Facebook because we only remove content that goes against our Community Standards. Our standards don’t allow things that encourage suicide or self-injury.”
The friends worked together on a podcast called JustUsGeeks and were involved in the local theatre scene.
Mr Steen added: “He didn’t seem to be the same guy that left for Iraq once he exited the service. I spent many a late night in our studio, via text message, and in person talking with him about life and his struggles.
"Mental health issues are very very real, and I honestly think that there are a lot of people who struggle with all areas of mental illness who let it go untreated. Or treat it with other things, it seems."
Vile trolls have since set up a fake account under Mr McNutt's name and claimed the suicide was faked.
The hoax account said: "I faked my death beacause life fucking sucks you know, I wanted to go away and I actually edited the video and made it into a live."
Mr McNutt is survived by his mum Elaine, brother Joey, sister Mindy, three nieces and two nephews, according to an obituary. He was predeceased by his dad Cecil Ronald McNutt.
It states: "He enjoyed and performed theater plays. He was a member of the Comicons club.
"He was employed at the Toyota plant in Blue Springs, MS. Mr. McNutt is a Veteran of the United States Army Reserve where he served in the Iraq War."
Mr Steen has started a campaign called #ReformForRonnie, which calls on social media companies to respond swiftly and halt the spread of things such as horrific videos, threats, hate and disinformation.
He wrote in a blog post: "If Facebook had responded efficiently, the stream could have been terminated, his account suspended, and law enforcement could have been notified directly from Facebook."
He added: "We have seen catastrophic breakdowns of terms of service and sets of standards from every single major social media platform over the past week.
"We need social media reform immediately; any action other than immediate action is far too late. We need your help to bring about this immediate change."
The campaign calls on social media networks to accept responsibility for "all content created, posted, and distributed" on their platforms, adding: "You must immediately stop passing the blame on to the users when content you distribute actively harms them.
"Let me be clear: I am not saying the internet or social media should be censored.
"If you post a suicide video for children to find hidden in cute cat videos, there should be consequences, legal and otherwise."
A Facebook spokesman said: "We removed the original video from Facebook last month on the day it was streamed and have used automation technology to remove copies and uploads since that time."
"Our thoughts remain with Ronnie's family and friends during this difficult time."
A TikTok spokesperson said: "On Sunday night, clips of a suicide that had been livestreamed on Facebook circulated on other platforms, including TikTok.
"Our systems have been automatically detecting and flagging these clips for violating our policies against content that displays, praises, glorifies, or promotes suicide.
"We are banning accounts that repeatedly try to upload clips, and we appreciate our community members who've reported content and warned others against watching, engaging, or sharing such videos on any platform out of respect for the person and their family.
"If anyone in our community is struggling with thoughts of suicide or concerned about someone who is, we encourage them to seek support, and we provide access to hotlines directly from our app and in our Safety Centre."
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
