Facebook sued for genocide

Dozens of Rohingya who have fled to the US and the UK have sued Facebook, accusing the social networking giant of enabling hate speech against them. It is estimated that at least 10,000 Rohingya Muslims were killed in 2017 in the military crackdown in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

A group of Rohingya refugees is suing Facebook for more than $150 billion, claiming that the social networking site "has allowed the dissemination of hateful, misinformation for years" - from from the BBC. They say that the company has failed to remove posts inciting violence against the Rohingya or delete problem accounts, failed to take appropriate and timely action despite warnings from human rights organisations and the media, and ultimately contributed to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.

The petition was filed on behalf of all Rohingya who survived the Myanmar massacre or have relatives who were victims of ethnic cleansing. According to the accusation, Facebook not only did nothing, but its algorithms even amplified the spread of hate speech against the Rohingya people on social media.

This is not the first time that the group, now called Meta, has been accused of putting profits before people. Former company employee Frances Haugen at her Senate hearing harshly criticised said, among other things, that Facebook is choosing money over user safety.