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Dad turns clip of daughter's live-on-air murder into an NFT to remove it from Internet

The 17-second clip was filmed by Alison Parker's cameraman Adam Ward when the two were shot dead by former colleague Vester Lee Flanagan II while reporting live in 2015

The father of a 24-year-old reporter, who was shot dead by a former colleague, is trying to turn the clip into a non-fungible token in the hopes of removing it from the internet. Andy Parker, whose daughter Alison Parker was murdered on live television in 2015, is hoping this will allow him to finally scrub the video from social media after six long years.

The 17-second clip was filmed by Alison's cameraman, Adam Ward on August 26, 2015, when the two were shot dead by disgruntled former colleague Vester Lee Flanagan II while reporting live. The co-worker is reported to have run away and committed suicide. The clip went viral on social media sites like Facebook and YouTube and has been viewed millions of times.

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Six years later, the video is still circulating and gaining views on social networking sites. Andy has now transformed the clip into a non-fungible token in the hopes of claiming ownership over the circulating videos. "This is the Hail Mary, an act of desperation," Andy told The Washington Post. Despite Facebook and YouTube taking down thousands of clips of the murder, many clips have still remained on the platforms. Andy has not only asked a number of his allies to search and flag the videos but has also launched a congressional campaign holding social media companies accountable for the spread of harmful content on their sites.

"In 2015, my 24-year-old daughter, Alison Parker, was shot and killed on live television. I had a choice to retreat into my grief or honor Alison’s life through action. I chose the latter. I’m running for Congress because Central and Southside Virginia need a fighter in Congress," one of his tweets read. Another tweet said, "I am running for Congress in honor of my daughter, Alison, who was shot and killed on live television 7 years ago. We can build a better future for all Americans, and I am ready to lead on day one."

"My name is Andy Parker. When my daughter was killed on live TV, I had a choice to retreat into my grief or honor Alison’s life through action. Now, I am running for Congress as a proud Democrat to fight for Virginia. Help me by retweeting, following, and getting me to 45k today!" said Andy's recent tweet.

"For victims of horrific images being distributed on the Internet generally, unfortunately, and inappropriately copyright does end up being an effective tool," said Adam Massey, legal advisor to Andy. The copyright of the footage currently belongs to WDBJ-TV's parent company, Gray Television which has refused to hand it over. Andy created an NFT of that recording on Rarible, a marketplace that deals in crypto assets, to claim copyright ownership of the clip. He hopes to gain some legal standing so he can sue the social media companies and remove the videos from circulation.

Kevin Latek, chief legal officer for Gray Television, said that the footage does not depict Alison's murder since the "video does not show the assailant or the shootings during the horrific incident." In his statement, Latek said that the company has "repeatedly offered to provide Mr. Parker with the additional copyright license" to call on social media companies to remove the WDBJ footage "if it is being used inappropriately." Andy and his legal advisers say that without owning the footage, the usage license is of barely any use. By creating an NFT of the copyrighted footage, Parker hopes to take up his case directly with the social media platforms. He has also been a strong advocate for gun reform.

But Andy's NFT doesn't cover a separate clip of the murder recorded by the shooter, Vester Lee Flanagan, who was fired in 2013. Some platforms, like YouTube, have been more rigorous about removing Flanagan’s footage, in accordance with the platform's policy of banning videos of violent events when filmed by the perpetrator. "We remain committed to removing violent footage filmed by Alison Parker’s murderer, and we rigorously enforce our policies using a combination of machine learning technology and human review," said YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon in a statement.

"We've removed thousands of videos depicting this tragedy since 2015, and continue to proactively remove more,” said Jen Ridings, spokesperson for Facebook's parent company, Meta as she "encouraged people to continue reporting this content." And yet, multiple videos of the shooting remain online. A review by The Washington Post found nearly 20 posts on Facebook containing a version of the murder footage, including some filmed by the gunman. While some clips only had a few hundred views, others had tens of thousands, including one with over 115,000 views and over 1,000 likes that had remained up since August 2015.

"I can't. I can't," Andy said when asked if he had watched any of the footage. Following the report by The Washington Post, Rarible temporarily blocked access to Parker's NFT without explanation. The app said on its website that it will 'immediately remove' content that might violate copyright laws and may temporarily block or hide an NFT 'when a digital asset violates copyright laws, regulations or community guidelines which Rarible abides by.'

"Posting content, violent content and murder on social media is not free speech, it's savagery. And as you all know, Alison's murder shared on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube is just one of the egregious practices that are undermining the fabric of our society. The reality is that Facebook and Instagram put the onus on victims and their families to do the policing of graphic content - requiring them to relive their worst moments over and over to curb the proliferation of these videos," Andy said in his complaint, filed in October 2021.