Two Ethiopian researchers, supported by a Kenyan Human Rights group, have filed a complaint in Kenya’s Supreme Court against Facebook’s parent company Meta for fomenting hatred and violence during Ethiopia’s civil war.
Ethiopian academic Abrham Meareg and Amnesty International NGO consultant Fisseha Tekle have filed a complaint in the Kenyan High Court accusing Meta of spreading hatred for advertising revenue.
The father of Abrham Meareg, a native of Tigray, had been the target of hate messages on Facebook, before he was killed in October 2021, the Ethiopian academic alleges throughout his brief, also supported by the Katiba Institute, a Kenyan Human Rights NGO.
«Meta did not provide enough staff in Kenya to adequately moderate content in African languages,» the text specifies, adding that posts on the platform «fuel conflicts,» especially during Ethiopia’s civil war.
The document presented highlights that Facebook’s algorithm has harmed 500 million people in different parts of Africa. Thus, it has called for measures to end the «systematic discrimination» against African users.
Among the demands is the removal of comments that incite violence and the creation of a fund of 1.6 billion dollars (1.5 billion euros) for victims of hatred and violence caused by Facebook.
