Facebook removes VR shooting game demo at CPAC 'out of respect' for Parkland victims

Facebook pulled a demo of Bullet Train, a virtual reality game that lets players use an imaginary gun to pretend shoot people in a train station, at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference.

The move comes following criticism for featuring a violent game so closely after the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida left 17 people dead.

"There is a standard set of experiences included in the Oculus demos we feature at public events. A few of the action games can include 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," Facebook's VP of VR Hugo Barra said in an emailed statement to Mashable.

As the students and loved ones of the victims still mourn and the gun control debate is reignited, Facebook's decision to promote a shooting game struck a chord of poor timing. Here's a video of the experience, as shared on Twitter:

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Facebook's presence at CPAC comes as the company faces backlash from all sides for its role in spreading conspiracy theories about the Parkland shooting. Facebook has a set of community standards and has preached it is working to limit the reach of fake news. And yet, it spreads on the social network. Meanwhile, Facebook still battles the reputation of having a liberal bias.

Venture capitalist Hunter Walk suggested Facebook should charge attendees to play and then donate the money:

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The experience comes from Epic Games and is currently available for free on Facebook's Oculus Rift. The game works with Oculus Touch motion controllers.

Facebook representatives at the booth have been instructed to not talk about conspiracies about the Parkland shooting, according to Kira Lerner, a reporter at ThinkProgress.

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This year was the company's second year in a row at CPAC, Lerner reported, citing Facebook's Policy Communications Manager Nu Wexler who was helping set up a booth with other Facebook employees.

"Facebook routinely participates in events hosted by organizations across the political spectrum," a Facebook spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to Lerner after she asked about the company's CPAC presence. "Our presence allows us to share information about our products as well as facilitate a dialogue in which people can share their views and create content to engage their audiences. Our involvement is not an endorsement of any particular position or platform."

But at least when it came to showing off a shooting game, Facebook chose to remove it.