Suicide of Ronnie McNutt

On August 31, 2020, Ronald Merle "Ronnie" McNutt, a 33-year-old American man, fatally shot himself in the head during a Facebook livestream, which went viral on social media platforms. The case became notable for both the callous attitude expressed towards McNutt's death by some Internet users, 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 also 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 (May 23, 1987 – August 31, 2020) was a resident of Mississippi in the United States, and had served in the military in Iraq. McNutt worked at a Toyota plant in New Albany, and had lived a seemingly stable life, but was known to have suffered from mental health problems, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, while reportedly also having broken up with his girlfriend; some media reports also said that he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic, though Rolling Stone disputed this. McNutt was a Christian who regularly attended church.

Suicide video

On August 31, 2020, McNutt began a livestream on Facebook. His best friend, Joshua Steen, encountered the stream. He did not initially find it unusual, as McNutt had routinely done livestreams in the past, but he became alarmed when he realized that McNutt was intoxicated and holding a single-shot rifle. 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 fatally shot himself in the head, prompting his pet dog to wander into the room. The stream was captured by multiple attending parties. 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.

A final message by Ronnie McNutt was later discovered 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".

Viral spread

The video of McNutt's suicide was uploaded by users across social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, 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 "FYP" (For You Page), so that users would scroll upon it without warning as the suicide automatically played, with the apparent intention of frightening or upsetting viewers as a form of trolling. The #ronniemcnutt hashtag had 15.6 million views on TikTok within the first few days after the suicide. Though the platforms worked to remove the videos, 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 placing the video after pictures of unrelated, innocuous content.

Public response

The incident was compared to the filmed suicides of anchorwoman Christine Chubbuck and politician Budd Dwyer. 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, as well as concern over the video's prevalence online. Some TikTok users announced boycotts of the platform 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.

Many parents reported that their children were highly distressed after encountering 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. 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.

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 before 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

• Suicide of Kevin Whitrick, another controversy involving footage of a livestreamed suicide being distributed across the Internet
• Christine Chubbuck
• R. Budd Dwyer