Facebook responded to a grieving Missouri father who pleaded with the social media network last week to release his deceased son’s “look back” video. John Berlin’s son, Jesse, died in 2012 when he was just 21.
The family didn’t have access to Jesse’s Facebook account, so John took to YouTube to ask the network to let him see his son’s personalized video. Facebook released the videos as part of their 10th birthday celebrations, allowing each of the site’s more than 1 billion users to see a collage of their life on the network.
Berlin’s appeal was posted on Wednesday and went viral quickly. It wasn’t long before the video caught the attention of Facebook. The company responded on Thursday, saying it would grant the father’s request, then sent him a video the next day. The network typically disables the accounts of users who have passed away, but it explained in its statement that the plea “moved us to take action.”
In announcing the release of his son’s look back video, Berlin wrote, “First of all I just want to thank everyone for all the shares and support. We couldn’t have done this without you.” He also posted the video to YouTube.
The father added, “From the bottom of my heart and everything that I am, I thank you Facebook.”
The company indicated that it would reconsider its policies on information posted by users who have passed on.
[H/T: ABC News, Image: Screencap]
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