Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World

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Sep 12, 2025 12:01 PM
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Photograph: Trent Nelson/Getty Images
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Minutes after conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot yesterday at a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University, jarring videos of the incident began circulating on apps like TikTok, Instagram, and X. In the immediate aftermath, the majority of the videos viewed by WIRED did not contain content warnings. Many began autoplaying before viewers had the option to consent. And on X, an AI-generated recap of the incident falsely indicated that Kirk had survived the shooting.
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