Edward Lutheran
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- Dec 28, 2021
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The Rohingya in Myanmar are suing Facebook for super-large dollar damages, accusing it of engaging in violence
Hingya refugees are suing the social networking giant Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech by Myanmar's military rulers and their supporters that incites violence against the Muslim community.
After years of scrutiny for contributing to ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar, recently disclosed internal Facebook documents show that the company continues to have problems defining and moderating hate speech and misinformation on its platform in the country. Since the military takeover of 1 February this year led to violations of human rights throughout the country, these violations have even been exploited by hostile actors.
The disclosures of internal company documents that Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, provided to Congress and U.S. securities regulators this fall further reinforced the Rohingya claims. The documents also help support possible legal actions by other groups around the world who have been harmed by hate speech and misinformation on the Facebook platform.
Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit in California on Monday against Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, claiming that Facebook's entry into Myanmar promotes hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that "constitutes a significant cause and ultimately perpetuates the Rohingya genocide."
Lawyers in the UK have given notice of their intention to launch similar legal proceedings. Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta, said in a statement on Tuesday that it was "appalled by the crimes committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar" and had set up a Myanmar-speaking team and invested in technology to act on harmful misinformation there.
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that has been forced to flee persecution and violence in Myanmar since 2017, and an estimated 1 million live in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. About 10,000 eventually made it to the United States.
In 2018, UN human rights experts investigating attacks against The Rohingya said Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech.
More than 10,000 Rohingya have been killed and more than 150,000 have suffered physical violence, according to the law firm organizing the cases.
The lawsuit alleges that Facebook's algorithms amplify hate speech against the Rohingya and that the company does not spend enough money on moderators and fact-checkers who speak local languages or understand the political situation.
They also said Facebook did not close accounts and pages or remove posts that incited violence or used hate speech against the community
Hingya refugees are suing the social networking giant Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech by Myanmar's military rulers and their supporters that incites violence against the Muslim community.
After years of scrutiny for contributing to ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar, recently disclosed internal Facebook documents show that the company continues to have problems defining and moderating hate speech and misinformation on its platform in the country. Since the military takeover of 1 February this year led to violations of human rights throughout the country, these violations have even been exploited by hostile actors.
The disclosures of internal company documents that Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, provided to Congress and U.S. securities regulators this fall further reinforced the Rohingya claims. The documents also help support possible legal actions by other groups around the world who have been harmed by hate speech and misinformation on the Facebook platform.
Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit in California on Monday against Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, claiming that Facebook's entry into Myanmar promotes hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that "constitutes a significant cause and ultimately perpetuates the Rohingya genocide."
Lawyers in the UK have given notice of their intention to launch similar legal proceedings. Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta, said in a statement on Tuesday that it was "appalled by the crimes committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar" and had set up a Myanmar-speaking team and invested in technology to act on harmful misinformation there.
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that has been forced to flee persecution and violence in Myanmar since 2017, and an estimated 1 million live in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. About 10,000 eventually made it to the United States.
In 2018, UN human rights experts investigating attacks against The Rohingya said Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech.
More than 10,000 Rohingya have been killed and more than 150,000 have suffered physical violence, according to the law firm organizing the cases.
The lawsuit alleges that Facebook's algorithms amplify hate speech against the Rohingya and that the company does not spend enough money on moderators and fact-checkers who speak local languages or understand the political situation.
They also said Facebook did not close accounts and pages or remove posts that incited violence or used hate speech against the community