An example of a Myanmar Facebook user posting hate speech, using the derogatory term “kalar” to refer to Rohingya as “Bengali.” According to multiple media reports on December 7th, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are suing Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms for compensation of up to 150 billion U.S. dollars, accusing Facebook of not taking action against anti-Rohingya hate speech that leads to violence. The day before, the law firm Edelson and Fields filed a lawsuit in California on the basis of Facebook’s alleged failure to monitor content that causes real-world violence…
According to multiple media reports on December 7th, Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are suing Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms for as much as US$150 billion, accusing Facebook of not taking action against anti-Rohingya hate speech that leads to violence.
A sort of U.S. Class Action The day before, the law firm Edelson and Fields filed a lawsuit in California, accusing Facebook of failing to monitor content that caused real-world violence faced by the Rohingya community in Myanmar.
In an earlier statement, Facebook acknowledged that in this case, “stopping misinformation and hatred was too slow” and stated that it has since taken measures to combat platform abuse in the region, including banning the use by the Myanmar military after February 1. Facebook and Instagram. coup.
Uncontrolled hate posts
In 2018, UN human rights investigators stated that the use of Facebook played a key role in spreading hate posts, which triggered violence against Rohingya in Myanmar and was tolerated on Facebook’s platform, despite the company’s The rules clearly prohibit the use of “violent or inhumane speech” to attack ethnic minorities. “
But it is not clear whether the lawsuit will end in a way that favors the plaintiff.
Facebook stated that it is not protected by Article 230 of the U.S. Internet Law and is exempt from liability for content posted by users, which stipulates that online platforms are not responsible for content posted by third parties.
However, lawyers for the Rohingya stated that they would seek to apply Myanmar law to these claims if Article 230 is presented as a defense.
Military suppression of Rohingya in 2017
In August 2017, more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State after military crackdowns, which refugees said included mass killings and rapes. Human rights organizations have documented killings of civilians and burning of villages.
The Burmese authorities stated that they were “fighting the insurgency” and denied committing systematic brutality.
The International Criminal Court has filed criminal charges in the region. In September, a U.S. federal judge ordered Facebook to publish account records related to the anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar closed by the social media giant.
