In light of the Florida massacre, the company expresses ‘regret’ over its decision to bring the game to CPAC

Facebook is facing backlash for bringing a virtual reality shooting game to a rightwing conference where the National Rifle Association (NRA) has promoted gun rights in the wake of a Florida school shooting.

The social media company, which has since removed the demonstration game and expressed “regret”, was already facing scrutiny for attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a high-profile event that featured speeches attacking gun control advocates and a renewed call from Donald Trump to arm school teachers.

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Hugo Barra, Facebook’s vice president of VR, said the company has a “standard set” of demos for events, including “action games” with “violence”.

“In light of the recent events in Florida and out of respect for the victims and their families, we have removed them from this demo. We regret that we failed to do so in the first place,” he said in a statement to the Guardian.

Hugo Barra (@hbarra) 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.

The conference in Maryland – which featured multiple NRA representatives and far-right French politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen – came one week after a shooter with an AR-15 rifle killed 17 people in Florida, sparking a wave of student activism and renewed scrutiny of Republican politicians funded by the NRA.

Facebook, which has been criticized by some for giving money to CPAC, faced backlash Friday when video emerged of its Oculus demo game that appeared to involve rapid-fire shooting.

Sean Morrow (@snmrrw) Facebook is at CPAC and they have a VR shooting game pic.twitter.com/wmV23jezpN

Some criticizing Facebook also pointed out that its platform has played a role in spreading false conspiracy theories about survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting.



At CPAC, where Trump repeated his anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks on Hillary Clinton, Facebook also set up a help desk and held a training for Facebook Groups. The groups feature has faced scrutiny over the last year for its role in helping neo-Nazis and rightwing extremists connect and organize.

“Facebook routinely participates in events hosted by organizations across the political spectrum,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an email. “Our presence allows us to share information about our products as well as facilitate a dialogue ... Our involvement is not an endorsement of any particular position or platform.”