The Rohingya refugees have sued Facebook for 150 million dollars, accusing the social network of having amplified the ‘language of hate against the Muslim minority in Myanmar through its algorithms and of not having removed the most controversial posts. Facebook is largely protected by US laws with respect to content posted by users, but the appeal filed in San Francisco by a group of Rohingya refugees asks the court to enforce the laws of Myanmar, which do not offer this protection. In the appeal, the US media reported, Facebook is accused of having “traded the lives of the Rohingya in exchange for greater market penetration in a small Southeast Asian country”. The lawyers also attached to the appeal a letter of formal notice submitted to Facebook’s London office on behalf of Rohingya refugees in the UK.
The appeal cites the revelations made to the US Congress by Frances Haugen, the former Facebook executive who accused the social network of improper practices and, among other things, of “no having learned from the fatal mistakes committed in Myanmar” in the affair. of the conflict in Ethiopia. “The undeniable reality is that Facebook’s growth fueled by hatred, divisions and disinformation” has “devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya,” the appeal said. A In 2018, a United Nations report found that Facebook had played a “key role” in spreading hate rhetoric in Myanmar during the government’s persecution of Rohingya under investigation by the International Criminal Court. At the time, the social network defended itself, promising more attention in controlling content. After the news of the appeal, the representatives of Meta, the new holding company that owns Facebook, did not release any comments.
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