Charlie Kirk's assassination shocked the country, to say the least. But what was even more shocking -- in the worst way -- is that footage of the shot that claimed his life immediately went viral in the wake of the shooting.
According to Breitbart, after announcing that they had taken Kirk's accused killer into custody, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) shared his feelings regarding the current state of social media, calling it a "cancer on our society right now."
The governor was, of course, referring to the horrific imagery of Kirk's killing that surfaced in what seemed like minutes after he was initially shot.
Cox and law enforcement officials announced Friday morning that they had taken 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the accused shooter in Kirk's assassination, into custody.
Gov. Cox's comments on the state of social media was also a reference to the recent footage that surfaced of Ukranian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed on a train in North Carolina last month.
The governor warned that as human beings, we aren't "wired" to take in such violent imagery, noting that it's not good for us to "consume" such material.
“We are not wired as human beings — biologically, historically — we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” Gov. Cox said.
He added, "And by the way, we’ve seen another one with a gruesome stabbing very recently that went viral. This is not good for us. It is not good to consume."
UT Gov on the impact of watching videos of the murders of Kirk & Zarutska:
“We are not wired as human beings, biologically, historically, we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing [that] violent imagery ...
“This is not good for us. It is not good to… pic.twitter.com/uvAgu4Gztn
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) September 12, 2025
"Social media is a cancer on our society right now," Cox added. "I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community."
Users across social media offered mixed reactions to the governor's take on the state of social media, with some arguing that it's important that such footage be seen, as bad as it is, to spark action and change.
"Nah, we need to see it - so we KNOW where the violence comes from," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "The videos are not the problem. The unmoderated spread of hate is."
Many have called for the videos to be taken down from social media. But they seem to be too widespread for that to realistically happen.
