Meta Platforms Inc. has been accused of amplifying hate speech and inciting violence on Facebook in Africa, in a lawsuit filed in Kenya’s high court that’s calling for about $2 billion in restitution.
The petitioners argue that the public needs protection from Facebook’s “woeful failure to address violence on its platform” and its design that “promotes and prioritizes hateful, incitement and dangerous content,” according to court filings seen by Bloomberg News. “We employ staff with local knowledge and expertise and continue to develop our capabilities to catch violating content in the most widely spoken languages in the country, including Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya.”The petitioners want Meta to invest more heavily in content moderation focused on Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, particularly in countries that are “vulnerable to war, conflict, ethnic cleansing and genocide,” the court filings state.
She said that Facebook played a similar role to what radio did in Rwanda during the genocide, and is potentially even more dangerous as it has wider reach than a broadcaster for instance. He mentioned a specific post where a photo of his father was posted in October 2021 along with a message making unfounded accusations, that attracted comments calling for violence against him.“My father was killed because posts published on Facebook identified him, accused him falsely, leaked the address of where he lives and called for his death,” Maereg wrote in the affidavit.