Police use cat filter in murder conference: when live-streaming goes wrong

Canadian police have apologised after “technical difficulties” resulted in a cat filter being applied to a Facebook live-stream of a news conference about a double murder.

Sergeant Janelle Shoihet, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of British Columbia, appeared to have cartoon cat ears and whiskers as she briefed reporters on the fatal shooting of an American woman and her Australian boyfriend on a remote stretch of highway in British Columbia.

Following the gaffe, Shoihet tweeted: “Yes we are aware and addressing it as it’s an automatic setting. Thank you, we will rectify and issue a video shortly.”

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A recording of the conference without the filter was posted on Facebook hours later, reports the HuffPost.

The unfortunate incident is far from the first time that live-streaming has gone awry.

Pakistani minister

Shaukat Yousafzai, minister of information for Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was briefing journalists at the beginning of June when he too fell victim to the Facebook cat filter. The video, which was posted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s official Facebook page, was deleted within minutes of the press conference, but screen grabs were shared widely. However, Yousafzai took it all in his stride, saying that the cartoon whiskers and furry ears had been applied by “mistake” in a blunder that should not be taken “so seriously”, the BBC reports.

Octopus attack

A vlogger who live-streamed herself attempting to eat a live octopus on Chinese video clip platform Kuaishou got an unexpected dose of karma when the marine mollusc latched onto her face and refused to let go. The woman, who posts under the name Seaside Girl Little Seven, was seen screaming as she struggled to remove the octopus. The ill-advised adventure left her with bloody marks on her face.

Hair-raising mistake

New York City-based beauty blogger Loraine Blake unintentionally broadcast a scene of sheer panic last month, after chunks of her hair began falling out as she attempted to demonstrate her straightening technique. The livestream, originally viewed by only 20 people, later went viral as viewers shared the moment when a clump of the 18-year-old’s bleached blonde hair came off under a comb. Blake later ended up shaving her entire head, with help from her mum.

The unscheduled Marvel preview

In 2017, Avengers star Mark Ruffalo reminded us all why you are supposed to switch off your phone at the cinema, when he inadventantly broadcast the first few minutes of Thor: Ragnarok at a pre-release screening. The Hulk actor had put his phone in his pocket after live-streaming from the red carpet in Hollywood before the preview, but forgot to switch it off - meaning 2,000 watchers were able to hear (but not see) the first ten minutes of the film, before Ruffalo realised his error.

... And another one

Like his Avengers co-star Ruffalo, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland has a reputation for accidentally giving away spoilers for upcoming Marvel films. In one notorious instance, Holland took to Instagram to live-stream himself opening a package sent by Ruffalo, which turned out to contain the first poster for the next movie in the superhero series. It was only after Holland had opened the package live on camera that he saw the message printed on the envelope: “CONFIDENTIAL DO NOT SHARE”. Oops.