Ronnie McNutt death video case

The Ronnie McNutt death video controversy was a situation in which a 33-year-old Mississippi man, Ronald "Ronnie" Merle McNutt, shot himself in the head live on a streamed video, which went viral on social media platforms. The case became notable for both the callous attitude expressed towards McNutt's death, as well as Facebook's slow response to the video, which had been shared to numerous other platforms and amassed a large view count before finally being taken down. Video platform TikTok was slow to respond to the video, which had appeared in many user feeds and constant re-uploads, leading to many users choosing to boycott the platform. The case has raised awareness about both suicide prevention and what duty of care social media platforms owe to protect users and victim reputations online when it comes to graphic content.

Ronnie McNutt

Ronnie McNutt (born May 23, 1987) was a resident of Mississippi in the United States, and had served in the military in Iraq. McNutt worked at a Toyota plant in Blue Springs, New Albany, and had lived a seemingly stable life, but was known to have suffered from mental health problems, while reportedly also having broken up with his girlfriend and lost his job as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated. McNutt was a Christian who regularly attended church. He was survived by his mother, two siblings and his six nieces and nephews.

Suicide video

On August 31, 2020, McNutt set up his computer's webcam and sat in front of it, holding a gun while intoxicated after drinking alcohol. His best friend, Joshua "Josh" Steen, who had met McNutt in theatre class and known him for roughly twenty years, came upon what was then being livestreamed on Facebook to a public audience. Steen allegedly attempted to intervene numerous times, particularly when McNutt misfired the gun, hoping that Facebook would cut off the stream and end the video feed, preventing people from seeing into McNutt's home while Steen sought police intervention. Facebook refused to cut the stream, claiming that the stream was not in any violation of its platform's guidelines. Not long after this, McNutt shot himself fatally in the head, prompting his pet dog to wander into the room, and the stream was captured by multiple attending parties. The video was extremely gory in nature, and identified McNutt by his full legal name. The New Albany Police Department was called to the scene during the livestream, but did not enter McNutt’s apartment until after he had died. Police Chief Chris Robertson had secured the perimeter, evacuating nearby residents and attempting to communicate with McNutt via speakerphone, to no avail.

Viral spread

The "Ronnie McNutt Suicide" video appeared under various titles, uploaded by numerous users, on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other sites, sometimes as screen captures and .gif images, but most often as a short video clip set to pop up in the feeds of unsuspecting users. McNutt had not expressed any intent for the viral spread to occur. Variants of the video appeared in TikTok's "FYF" (For You Feed), so that users would scroll upon it without warning as the suicide automatically played, frightening or upsetting the user as a form of trolling. The #ronniemcnutt hashtag had 15.6 million views on TikTok only days after the actual suicide itself had taken place. As the platforms would eventually remove each video, new uploads of it would appear from separate accounts, while links to the video also began to appear in Reddit's true crime communities. As TikTok caught onto the video with its algorithms, uploaders evaded detection by hiding the video with initial pictures of benign content such as cute kittens.

Public response

There was a mixed public response to the video. Many viewers compared it to the live suicides of anchorwoman Christine Chubbuck and politician Budd Dwyer, and considered the video a gruesome form of found footage. The video was openly mocked by some viewers, and an Encyclopedia Dramatica page was created about Ronnie McNutt that mocked him and referred to him with derogatory language. At the same time, the broader response online was one of sympathy towards McNutt, with users using the case as an opportunity to discuss mental health and suicide prevention. Well-known social media personalities such as gossip reporter Spill Sesh decided to publicly boycott TikTok until the suicide video was completely taken down, while other users began posting prayers and messages of respect and commemoration for McNutt in the comments sections of the video uploads.

As the video spread to Reddit, Reddit users expressed disdain over the public's expressed concern for McNutt's pet dog, arguing that society valued a dog more than the life of a human being. One Reddit user stated, "Ronnie McNutt's suicide is heavily talked about, but the problem is that people literally seem to care more about the dog than him. "This poor pupper will probably be traumatized🥺🥺" "the dog was just standing there confused😞" Are they being serious? A man killed himself?? And y'all are interested in the dog??? Rather than him and his family???" Another user posted in agreement, "there are people who cared more about the dog who walked in on the man, rather than the man who committed suicide and was suffering through depression! These same people are likely to call themselves "empaths" (I scoff at this word these days because of pet-nutters who have corrupted its meaning). Seriously, for God's sake, why are pet freaks obsessed with pets rather than caring about a man who just shot himself because he couldn't get the help he needed?" Reddit became a popular place for re-uploads of the video in the wake of its removal on more popular platforms.

Many parents around the world had called their local police after their children became traumatized at the sight of the video, with one girl becoming physically ill and needing to sleep with the lights on. Another parent argued that she fears her children, who accidentally discovered the video on TikTok, may have post-traumatic stress disorder. Kayleigh Holloway, a parent from Bracknell, put out a public warning to other parents that a video of a man "ending his own life" was circulating around. Institute of Mums circulated further warnings for parents about seemingly benign video content hiding the McNutt video, stating, "alarmingly, there are also reports of the video being sandwiched in the middle of cute and funny cat videos, which begin with viewer-friendly footage before quickly changing to the disturbing suicide." Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the video something that "no child should be exposed to", while cybersecurity expert Susan McLean publicly recommended that parents prevent minor children from accessing the TikTok app until the video was fully removed.

A final message was later discovered by Ronnie McNutt on Facebook, declaring, "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." It was posted on the same day as the suicide, which many took to be a sign that McNutt's suicide had not been malicious or intentionally gory in nature, but rather a cry for help.

Liability

The case sparked a debate over what legal liability is owed by internet platforms that fail to promptly remove graphic and disturbing footage from public view, with the blame generally being placed on Facebook for failing to cut off the livestream during the initial suicide attempt itself. Josh Steen had called Facebook multiple times, and had called the police, neither of which stopped the stream until McNutt had already committed suicide. Steen declared, "if some woman posts a topless photo, their software will detect that, remove it, and ban their account. That’s apparently more offensive than my friend killing himself." It was argued by the two platforms that the "dark web" was responsible for the ongoing circulation of the video.

TikTok released a public statement saying, "Our systems have been automatically detecting and flagging these clips for violating our policies against content that displays, praises, glorifies, or promotes suicide. 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." Facebook, likewise, publicly stated, "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."

See also

• Nikki Catsouras photographs controversy
• Christine Chubbuck
• Budd Dwyer

External links

• official obituary memorial page for Ronnie McNutt

References

This article "Ronnie McNutt death video case" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ronnie McNutt death video case. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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