Facebook Live Videos Turn Serious During Police Shootings

When Mark Zuckerberg introduced Facebook live-streaming in April, it was with a cheery video from the launch room in which he talked about the great things people were already doing with the service. There was a stream of baby bald eagles and a guy who went live while he got a haircut. The mundane could become the suspenseful, Zuckerberg said, because viewers wouldn't know what would happen next. In the months since, Facebook has celebrated go-live successes that include a watermelon exploding under rubber bands and a mom howling with laughter while wearing a Chewbacca mask.

Now the live videos commanding the most attention are far from mundane—and the social-media giant is struggling with how to handle its position in the middle of disturbing news events.