The U.S. plans to livestream an execution. Here's how that compares to global practice

For about nine decades, executions in the U.S. have been private affairs, often shrouded in secrecy. If carried out as planned, death penalty experts said it would mark the first known broadcast or livestream of a lawful execution.

Experts say it would mark the 1st known broadcast or livestream of a lawful execution

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Oct 09, 2026 11:35 AM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago

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The U.S. military plans to livestream the Dec. 3 execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

He's due to become the first person executed by firing squad by the U.S. military since 1945.

Hasan, a former U.S. army officer, walked into a medical building where soldiers were getting checkups, shouted Allahu akbar — Arabic for "God is greater" — and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun.

For about nine decades, executions in the U.S. have been private affairs, often shrouded in secrecy. If carried out as planned, death penalty experts said it would mark the first known broadcast or livestream of a lawful execution.

Executions are generally conducted behind prison walls, and internet platforms and governments have spent years trying to limit the circulation of violent execution footage.

How does the Pentagon's stunning announcement that his execution will be livestreamed compares to global practice, and to the history of U.S. public executions?

We explain below.

WATCH | Firing squad execution to be livestreamed:

Firing squad execution to be livestreamed, Pentagon says

1 hour ago|

Duration

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Former U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan is set to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3, the first military execution in the U.S. in more than 65 years. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a planned attack at the Fort Hood military base in 2009. The Pentagon says the execution will be livestreamed.

Will this be the first livestreamed lawful execution?

Death penalty experts consulted by Reuters said they were unaware of any previous lawful execution that had been livestreamed or broadcast to a public audience.

Execution footage has occasionally emerged after the event. The hanging of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2006, for example, was seen around the world after official and unofficial recordings circulated online and through broadcasters, though it was not shown live.

Broadcasts and livestreams today are common for court proceedings, parliamentary debates and other state functions, but not for judicial executions.

How unusual is this compared with modern execution practices?

Public executions have become rare worldwide, with most countries that retain the death penalty carrying out executions away from public view.

According to Amnesty International, public executions recorded in recent years have largely been concentrated in Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan.

The execution would also be notable in the United States. Public executions largely disappeared during the 20th century, and death penalty experts cited by Reuters said the last legally sanctioned public execution took place in 1936.

Hasan's execution would be the first carried out by firing squad by the U.S. military since the 1945 execution of Eddie Slovik, who was convicted of desertion during the Second World War.

Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 31 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, is pictured in an undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on June 29, 2012. (Bell County Sheriff's Office/Handout/Reuters)

How has the internet changed this?

The internet has transformed execution imagery from a local event into content capable of reaching global audiences within minutes.

Militant groups such as Islamic State became notorious for producing professionally edited execution videos that were distributed online as propaganda and recruitment tools.

Criminal organizations, including Mexican drug cartels, have also circulated violent footage to intimidate rivals and project power.

The ability of users to rapidly copy, repost and redistribute content has made it more difficult for governments and technology companies to control the spread of such material.

What's the global reaction so far?

The UN human rights office on Friday said the planned livestreaming would violate the absolute prohibition on torture and amount to a form of public execution.

"Public executions constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

Amnesty International's U.K. CEO Kerry Moscogiuri said Friday that the U.S. plans are a "grave step," considering that the death pentalty is already "so inhumane."

"To create some kind of theatre around the State taking someone's life is barbaric and deeply shocking," she told Reuters.

• Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed

• What happened in Tennessee's failed execution of Christa Pike and what comes next?

Governments and technology companies have generally moved in the opposite direction, attempting to reduce rather than expand access to graphic execution footage.

Major social media platforms have spent years removing execution videos linked to extremist organizations and other violent groups.

One of the first public governmental reactions came from New Zealand, whose chief censor said authorities would have little practical ability to prevent residents from accessing a livestream while it was taking place.

WATCH | Lawyers demand answers over botched execution:

Christa Pike's lawyers demand answers, transparency over botched execution

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Lawyers for convicted murderer Christa Pike are pushing for answers and transparency after she survived several lethal injection attempts last week. A Tennessee judge also ordered the court to preserve all evidence connected to the botched execution.

Livestreams pose particular challenges for platforms because footage can be viewed, copied and redistributed before moderation systems can intervene.

Even countries that still conduct public executions have often restricted filming and broadcast rights. Saudi Arabia historically carried out public executions before spectators, but recording them was prohibited and such public executions had largely ceased by 2019.

Did the U.S. used to do public executions?

The livestreamed execution is reminiscent of a bygone period in America’s history in which public executions were seen as deterrents to crime as well as popular ceremonies, said Michael L. Radelet, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder, who has done extensive research on executions.

Parents and teachers would often bring children along to teach them a lesson. The events would sometimes feature a choir, a preacher giving an "execution sermon" and the condemned, who was typically a man being hanged, giving a long speech to the crowd.

The 1936 hanging in Kentucky of Rainey Bethea is often considered the last public execution in the country, said Radelet.

Bethea was a Black man who reportedly confessed to the rape and killing of a 70-year-old white woman, but was never charged with murder, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Thousands of people attended the event, which was held in a parking lot so the courthouse lawn wouldn’t be damaged by the crowd, according to the centre.

As NPR points out, the last time the U.S. military executed someone by firing squad was in 1945, when Private Eddie Slovik was shot for desertion in France.

A United States Army Specialist prays near a makeshift memorial for victims of the shootings at Fort Hood Army post in Fort Hood. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)