Graphic videos of Charlie Kirk’s assassination spread like weeds over social media last week in a way that it made it difficult for the youngest online to avoid the bloodshed.

From autoplay on X to friends sharing the footage in group chats, both young people who loved and hated the conservative leader saw the videos in ways that are leading to renewed calls for online safety legislation and lessons from schools on how to handle graphic social media content.

Kelly Benjamin, a mother of two who has worked in media and technology for years, said she found out about Kirk’s assassination through her daughter, a sophomore in high school, who came home announcing the news and saying that she already watched it happen.

“As a parent, hearing your child say that they've already witnessed someone dying that day is horrific. And, naturally, I worry about the implications of kids seeing that kind of violence and being desensitized to it, being traumatized by it and it just being sort of available instantaneously,” said Benjamin, whose past employers including E&E News.

The videos were almost inescapable for anyone with a social media account a week ago Wednesday, as several angles circulated online of Kirk getting shot in the neck, with some versions even slowed down for taking in detail.

Cell phone bans at schools kept at least at least some........

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