Facebook was slammed online for featuring a demo of a VR shooting game at its booth at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) event. Facebook soon removed the game in response to the negative reaction, however.
The demo included a game called Bullet Train, where players run around a train station killing enemies. The company was criticized for including the game so soon after the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which 17 people were killed.
People shared footage of the shooting game at the conference, which prompted the social media giant to respond. “We removed the demo & regret failing to do so at the start. We got this wrong,” Facebook VR Vice President Hugo Barra wrote on Twitter in response to the outrage.
“Our demos come w[ith] a standard set of content, some are action games w[ith] violence,” Barra added. “These shouldn't have been present, especially in light of recent events & out of respect for the victims & their families.”
We removed the demo & regret failing to do so at the start. We got this wrong. Our demos come w a standard set of content, some are action games w violence. These shouldn't have been present, especially in light of recent events & out of respect for the victims & their families.
— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) February 23, 2018
Many social media users were offended that the shooting game was included at the conservative event, where many of the attendees would be strong 2nd Amendment advocates. Social media users went as far as saying the company was “part of the problem” when it came to tackling the issue.
Well if this isn’t tone deaf
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) February 23, 2018
I've been waiting for one last straw before closing my Facebook account. This VR Shooting Game at CPAC is it.#boycottfacebook
— Truth Wins
(@BlueWaveJustice) February 23, 2018
Reason #3,247 why I’m not on FaceBook.
— Sebastian (@sebulia1) February 23, 2018
Yup. @facebook is officially part of The Problem.
— Molly Morrow (@Resistanceraven) February 23, 2018
[contf] [contfnew] 
RT
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
