The recommendation systems of the social media platforms are to blame for this, as they are responsible for the violent posts being spread millions of times, according to the lawsuit filed by two Ethiopian researchers Abrham Meareg and Fisseha Tekle and the Kenyan human rights organization “Katiba Institute”. .

Lawsuit background: A very personal story

The story behind the lawsuit is a very personal one: Abrham's father Meareg Amare was shot in front of his home on November 3, 2021. The chemistry professor belonged to the Tigrayan ethnic group and had previously been slandered in several posts on Facebook because he had allegedly acquired wealth through illicit means. The comments then called for his death - in addition to providing the address. Abrham's requests to delete the posts from Facebook were unsuccessful. Only after the murder did Meta remove one of the posts.

“I hold Facebook personally responsible for my father’s death. Facebook says it is against racism and hate. But it never listened to our warnings and ignored our concerns.”

Abrham Meareg told Z E IT

For this reason, Abrham and Fisseha filed the lawsuit against Meta.

Lack of moderation of posts

In the lawsuit, they primarily accuse Facebook of having inadequately trained its algorithms to recognize and remove dangerous and hateful posts like the one in the case above. In addition, staff should have been hired to monitor content in the languages ​​covered by the regional moderation center in Nairobi.

Meta spokeswoman Erin McPike said hate speech and incitement to violence violated the rules of Facebook and Instagram.

Rosa Curling, director of Floxglove, an English NGO that campaigns against human rights abuses by tech companies and is supporting the lawsuit, says:

“Facebook can no longer put profit above the well-being of people. Just as hate was fueled on the radio during the Rwandan genocide, it was done on Facebook in Ethiopia. And the platform has the means to avoid the spread of hate.”

Reforms demanded

In their lawsuit, Abrham and Fisseha are demanding extensive reforms of the platform from Meta.

This includes, among other things, an increase in staff for the above-mentioned moderation of posts for the recommendation page, an immediate removal of rabid content , but also compensation in the form of a fund of approximately $2 million . This compensation should be available to all people who become victims of violent posts shared on Facebook.

In general, the algorithm should also be changed so that it automatically deletes hate speech more quickly.

McPike stated in this regard:

“We are investing heavily in teams and technology to find and remove this content. We employ people with local knowledge and expertise and continue to develop our skills to find offensive content in the most spoken languages ​​in Ethiopia.”

Meta speaker Erin McPike

The lawsuit was filed in Kenya because Facebook has centered its content moderation for all of Southeast Africa in Nairobi.

More atrocities

The current incident is clearly reminiscent of other allegations against Meta in recent years. The company has already been confronted with other atrocities in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Cambodia, among others. The company, however, admitted that it had acted “too slowly” in Myanmar and other conflicts.

Abrham also emphasizes that the problem is not limited to Ethiopia:

“We are also seeing the effects in Myanmar and India. The tragedies will continue unless Facebook is forced to invest more in security.”

Thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced in the conflict that erupted in 2020 between the Ethiopian government and rebel forces from the northern Tigray region.

Sources:

Futurezone , Die Zeit
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