Activists file lawsuit against Meta over murdered Ethiopian professor – The Washington Post

The son of an Ethiopian academic who was murdered during the country’s ongoing violence has filed a lawsuit against Facebook parent company Meta in Kenya’s High Court, alleging the social media giant is fueling violence and hate across eastern and southern Africa.Abrham Meareg Amare claims in the lawsuit that his father, Meareg Amare Abrha, a Tigrayan professor, was gunned down in November 2021 after he was targeted on Facebook with hateful and inaccurate posts. He said he tried to get Facebook to remove some of the problematic content — including a post with a photo of his father — but he didn’t receive a response until after his father was killed.“If Facebook had just stopped the spread of hate and moderated posts properly, my father would still be alive,” he said in a statement. “I’m seeking justice for millions of my fellow Africans hurt by Facebook’s profiteering — and an apology for my father’s murder.”The lawsuit alleges that Facebook’s algorithms are more likely to promote hateful and violent content because that attracts engagement on the platform. The legal filing also claims that Meta underinvests in content moderation in countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Meareg is bringing
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