Two Ethiopian Researchers Sue Meta For Failing To Overcome Hate Speech On Facebook

Abruham Meareg, a researcher from Ethiopia (photo: @AmmareMeareg)

JAKARTA - Meta Platform Inc., was sued in Kenya on Wednesday, December 14 for allowing violent and hate posts from Ethiopia to develop on Facebook, fueling Ethiopia's civil war.

The lawsuit, filed by two Ethiopian researchers and rights group Katiba Institute Kenya, alleges that Facebook's recommendation system strengthens violent posts in Ethiopia, including some that preceded the assassination of the father of one of the researchers.

"Facebook doesn't just allow that kind of content on the platform, they prioritize it and make money from that kind of content. Why are they allowed to do that?" said Mercy Mutemi, a lawyer representing two Ethiopian researchers, at a news conference inFORmation.

The lawsuit also states that Meta has failed to exercise reasonable caution in training its algorithms to identify malicious posts and in hiring staff to become language content police, which is covered by its regional moderation center inlock.

Meta spokesman Erin McPike said hate speech and incitement to violence were against Facebook and Instagram rules.

"We invest a lot in team and technology to help us find and remove this content," McPike said.

"We employ staff with local knowledge and expertise and continue to develop our ability to capture infringing content in the most widely used language in Ethiopia," McPike said.

Last year's Meta Independent Supervisory Board recommended a review of how Facebook and Instagram have been used to spread content that increases the risk of violence in Ethiopia.

Plaintiffs called on the court to order Meta to take emergency steps to reduce violent content, increase moderate staff atlock, and create restitutional funds of around $2 billion for victims of global violence due to incitement on Facebook.

Abruham Meareg's father, an Ethiopian researcher, faced ethnic insults and a number of posts on Facebook calling for his death in October 2021. There was even a post that revealed his address.

According to the lawsuit, Abrham's father, a Tigrayan ethnic, was killed on November 3, 2021. Abruham told Reuters he considered Meta "direct responsibility" for his father's death.

This case raises accusations Meta faces of content on its platform related to violence elsewhere, including in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The company has acknowledged it is "too slow" to act in Myanmar.

Thousands of people were killed and millions displaced in the Ethiopian conflict that erupted in 2020 between the federal government and rebel forces from the northern Tigray region. Both sides agreed last November for a permanent cessation of hostilities.