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Activists file case against Meta over Tigray hate posts
An Ethiopian man whose father was murdered has joined a lawsuit against Meta that is seeking $1.6 billion from Facebook's parent company for allegedly fanning hate speech in Africa.
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Kenyan lawyer Mercy Mutemi (C) speaks to the media after filing a lawsuit against Meta accusing Facebook's parent company of fanning violence and hate speech in Africa at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on December 14, 2022. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
A
n Ethiopian man whose father was murdered during the country's war has joined a lawsuit against Meta that is seeking $1.6 billion from Facebook's parent company for allegedly fanning hate speech in Africa.
The case filed in Kenya's High Court on Wednesday by two individuals and a rights group says Meta responded inadequately to hateful content on its platform, especially in relation to the war in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.
One petitioner said his father, an ethnic Tigrayan, had been targeted by racist messages on Facebook before his murder in November 2021, and the social media giant had failed to move quickly to remove these posts.
"If Facebook had just stopped the spread of hate and moderated posts properly, my father would still be alive," said Abrham Meareg, who is also Tigrayan and an academic like his father.
"I'm taking Facebook to court so no one ever suffers as my family has again. I'm seeking justice for millions of my fellow Africans hurt by Facebook's profiteering –- and an apology for my father's murder."
His lawyer, Mercy Mutemi, said Facebook took a month to respond to Abrham's appeals for the content to be taken down.
"Why did it take over a month to take down a post that calls for the murder of somebody?" she said.
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