LiveLeak explained

Area Served:Worldwide
Caption:Screenshot of LiveLeak's homepage
LiveLeak
Foundation:[1]
Founder:Various co-founders including Hayden Hewitt
Url:
Commercial:no
Type:Video sharing
Location City:London
Location Country:United Kingdom[2]
Owner:None
Current Status:Defunct/Inactive

LiveLeak was a British video sharing website, headquartered in London. The site was founded on 31 October 2006, in part by the team behind the Ogrish.com shock site which closed on the same day. LiveLeak aimed to freely host real footage of politics, war, and many other world events and to encourage and foster a culture of citizen journalism.[3] [4] It was shut down on 5 May 2021. The URL was changed to redirect to ItemFix, another video sharing site.[5] [6]

History

LiveLeak first came to prominence in 2007 following the filming and leaking of the execution of Saddam Hussein. This, among others, earned the site a mention from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow as the likely place to see updates or stories from active American soldiers.[7]

On 30 July 2007, the BBC programme Panorama broadcast a show on how street violence between children as young as 11 was being posted on websites including LiveLeak.[8] When Panorama queried the "extremely violent videos" that were posted to LiveLeak's website, co-founder Hayden Hewitt refused to take them all down, stating: "Look, all this is happening, this is real life, and this is going on, and we're going to have to show it."[9]

LiveLeak was again in the spotlight in March 2008 when it was hosting the anti-Quran film Fitna, made by Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Fitna was taken down for 48 hours as personal threats against Hewitt, the only public representative of the site, peaked. It was reposted on 30 March 2008 after arrangements for Hewitt's family and safety had been improved. However, the video was soon removed again over a copyright claim.[10]

On 24 March 2014, LiveLeak and Ruptly announced a content partnership.[11]

On 19 August 2014, a video depicting the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley was posted by Islamic State terrorists on YouTube and other sites. When it was reported on by U.S. News & World Report, YouTube and Facebook deleted all related footage and implemented bans, demand increased for LiveLeak's footage as they permitted the content at that time.[12] In response to the James Foley video, Hewitt posted that LiveLeak's content policy had been updated to ban all beheading footage produced by the Islamic State.[13] The website continued to host the original video that depicted the aftermath of Foley's execution for its historical relevance as it did not depict the beheading itself.

On 30 March 2019, Australian telecom Telstra denied millions of Australians access to websites 4chan, 8chan, Voat, Zero Hedge, and LiveLeak as a response to the video of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand spreading.[14] LiveLeak responded that they didn't carry the video and were removing uploads of it. The ISPs in question didn't respond.

At the beginning of June 2020, LiveLeak temporarily disabled users' ability to log into the website, and it also only suggested videos from other sources, such as YouTube or Dailymotion. After 14 June 2020, it became possible to log into the website and view LiveLeak's hosted videos again. Those who did not want to log in to LiveLeak would only see suggested videos that were hosted by YouTube, Dailymotion and VK.

On 5 May 2021, the LiveLeak website shut down, with site visitors being redirected to ItemFix.com, a website that bans users from uploading media containing “excessive violence or gory content”.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Roversi, Antonio. 2008. Hate on the Net: Extremist Sites, Neo-fascism On-line, Electronic Jihad. Burlington, VT. Ashgate Publishing. 8. 978-0-7546-7214-2. 2007034132. 21 August 2017. The website [Ogrish.com] was incorporated into LiveLeak.com on 31 October 2006.
  2. Web site: Company Overview of LiveLeak. https://web.archive.org/web/20170821044738/https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=34880583. Aug 21, 2017. Bloomberg. S&P Global Market Intelligence. 21 August 2017.
  3. Web site: Interview with Hayden Hewitt, co-Founder of LiveLeak.com . The New Freedom . 19 May 2008. 19 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110310102810/http://www.thenewfreedom.net/wp/2008/05/19/interview-with-hayden-hewitt-co-founder-of-liveleakcom/ . 10 March 2011. dead.
  4. News: Crichton. Torcuil . 13 January 2007. Blair and Bush's latest weapon of war: YouTube . . 13 January 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070212155331/http://www.sundayherald.com/misc/print.php?artid=1122066 . 12 February 2007. dead.
  5. Web site: Vincent. James. 7 May 2021. LiveLeak, the internet's font of gore and violence, has shut down. The Verge. 15 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210515070233/https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/7/22424356/liveleak-shock-site-shuts-down-itemfix. 15 May 2021. live.
  6. Web site: Yeo. Amanda. 6 May 2021. LiveLeak is finally dead after 15 years. Mashable. 20 April 2022.
  7. Web site: Cashmore. Pete. Pete Cashmore. 2007-01-14. LiveLeak Making Headlines, Enemies . Mashable . 2021-07-15.
  8. Panorama: Children's Fight Club. BBC. 29 July 2007. 23 March 2008.
  9. News: Web child fight videos criticised. BBC News. 29 July 2007. 23 March 2008.
  10. Web site: Cook. James . 7 November 2014 . Q&A: The Man Behind LiveLeak, The Islamic State's Favourite Site For Beheading Videos . . 11 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141110110133/http://www.businessinsider.com/profile-of-hayden-hewitt-founder-of-liveleak-2014-10 . 10 November 2014. live.
  11. Ruptly Video News Agency and LiveLeak.com announce content partnership. Ruptly. PRLog. 24 March 2014. 26 April 2022.
  12. News: Nelson. Steven . 22 August 2014. LiveLeak Bans Future Islamic State Beheading Videos . . 22 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140824115448/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/22/liveleak-bans-islamic-state-beheading-videos-after-james-foley-murder . 24 August 2014. dead.
  13. Web site: Statement From Liveleak Regarding IS Beheading Videos which might be upcoming . LiveLeak . 21 August 2014. 28 August 2015. https://archive.today/20140821134915/http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a69_1408615973 . 21 August 2014. dead.
  14. Brennan. David . 19 March 2019. 4chan, 8chan, LiveLeak and Others Blocked by Australian Internet Companies over Mosque Massacre Video. Newsweek. 26 April 2022.