Strict gun control does not stop murderers. Controlling Facebook Live will not save lives.
This is going to be short and sweet because I am not interested in joining the media circus surrounding an evil person who killed a kindly old man while streaming it live on Facebook. The picture above is the victim, 74 year old Robert Godwin, Sr. There's no reason to show his killer Steve Stephens. That scumbag has received enough attention.
If Facebook Live did not exist Steve Stephens would probably still kill someone. He is a sick and twisted individual. Stephens picked a random person and shot him in cold blood. He streamed the whole thing live. The video is all over the internet and now people are blaming Facebook for not taking it down before it spread. Perhaps that would have slowed the spread, but once something is digital it lives forever. I heard and read comments from people saying Facebook should install a 24 hour delay on any live video posts to prevent more killings. This would accomplish nothing except deny us the incredible technology that allows an individual to speak live to the entire world with just a smartphone. I understand the fear there could be copy-cat killings, but at what point do we stop restricting or prohibiting things because killers could use them against us? Islamist terrorists have taken to driving trucks into crowds.
This same applies to gun ownership and people's Second Amendment rights. No matter how strict the controls, bad guys will still get their hands on a firearm. The stricter the controls, the more good people are denied their right of self protection. Washington, DC outlawed private ownership of handguns in 1976 and the murder rate skyrocketed. The Supreme Court lifted the ban in 2008 and homicides have steadily declined.
I'm not making an argument against all gun laws and I expect Facebook will do a better job of policing content. Bad people will always take any opportunity available to do bad things.