Facebook says that it is hiring an extra 3,000 workers worldwide to remove violent content like recent gruesome killings and suicides broadcast on its video platform.

"We've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook -- either live or in video posted later," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page on May 3.

"It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community," he said. "We need to respond quickly."

Zuckerberg's announcement came a week after a Thai man broadcast live video of him killing his infant daughter before committing suicide.

The previous week, an American man dubbed the "Facebook Killer" shot himself to death on video after a nationwide manhunt.

The killings sparked outrage worldwide and renewed scrutiny of social media.

It took more than a day for Facebook to remove some of the offending videos, and Zuckerberg acknowledged that more should be done to stem the worrisome trend.

"We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner -- whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down," he said.

The 3,000 new recruits will add to Facebook's current monitoring team of 4,500.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters