Dubai Weekly
It remains unclear whether any restrictions would be implemented on a livestream to limit who can watch the execution. Rules about how executions are carried out and who can watch vary by state, and the military also has its own rules. A number of states require some form of public viewing of executions.
Many require journalists to be present. Some states allow the person being executed to invite people, and some allow ordinary citizens to volunteer as witnesses. Under US Army Regulation 190-55 which governs military executions, only certain categories of people, such as journalists and relatives, are permitted to be present.
People aged under 18 are excluded. Critics of the plan to livestream Hasan's death say it will be hard, if not impossible, to prevent children from watching it live or in recordings afterwards. One survivor of the Fort Hood attack told the BBC that he opposed livestreaming the execution due to concerns about the message it might send to young people.
Alonzo Lunsford, a former US Army sergeant who was shot seven times, said it should only be viewable by victims and their families. "As far as the families of the fallen and the families of the survivors, and the survivors themselves, yes, I think we should be able to look at it uncensored," he said. The UN warned on Friday that livestreaming the execution would "constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" that is banned under international law.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during Friday's press briefing in New York that the "possibility of...a government executing someone in public or in front of live cameras, frankly, is abhorrent". It's unclear how or where the US military plans to transmit the stream, and whether it would violate US laws or regulations. Legal challenges are expected in any case.
Truth Social, the social media platform owned by President Trump, does not have a livestream video feature for users. The White House maintains official accounts and channels on the most widely used online platforms that are capable of streaming live video, namely Meta, YouTube, TikTok and X. All of the platforms have prohibitions in place on not only violent images and videos, but those that show death or otherwise glorify or make spectacle of violence.
Meta - owner of Instagram, Facebook and Threads - explicitly bans any live stream of capital punishment. YouTube, owned by Google, bans all "violent or gory content intended to shock or disgust viewers", but says exceptions may be made for "content that is in the public interest". TikTok has a similar blanket ban.
Its policy reads, "We don't allow extremely graphic, violent, or disturbing content—especially when it could cause viewers emotional distress." That includes the "moment of someone's death" and "the shooting of an individual". Two weeks ago, TikTok updated its policy to include a possible exception to the prohibition for graphic content that is in the "public interest". Several US states allow capital punishment to be carried out by firing squad, or by electrocution.
Most executions are done by lethal injection of multiple drugs. Those drugs are now in short supply, however, due to concerns from drugmakers about how they are being used. The recent attempted execution of convicted killer Christa Pike in Tennessee failed for reasons that are still under investigation.
Some have questioned the age of the drugs that were used. In the wake of Pike's failed execution, officials are now questioning what other methods may be available to kill condemned prisoners. The Pentagon announced on 5 October - five days after Pike's botched injections - that Hasan would die by firing squad.
Trump approved of the plan, and said he also approved livestreaming the execution, but a final determination had not been made. Vice-President JD Vance, meanwhile, cast doubt that it would happen, saying he was not sure, and in any case, did not plan to watch.
Source: BBC
