The complaint filed collectively asserts that Facebook algorithms grow some user profiles to even more extremist groups than they are already.
Le Monde with AFP. and Reuters
Rohingya refugees, Muslim ethnic minority that fled the persecutions in Burma, prosecuted by Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, for $ 150 billion (132 billion euros) . They accuse the social network of not taking action against hatred speeches against them. A classified complaint was filed on Monday, December 6 in California, where Facebook is headquartered by law firms Edelson PC and Fields PLLC. As part of a coordinated action, British lawyers also sent a letter of notification to the Facebook office in London.
Most Rohingya found refuge in Bangladesh from 2017 after fled a violent repression campaign in Burma, a Buddhist country, where they are considered clandestine even if they are often present for generations .
The complaint asserts that the algorithms used by the technology giant have favored misinformation and extremist ideologies, which have resulted in violent acts in the real world. “Facebook is like a programmed robot with a unique mission: to grow”, write the plaintiffs. “The undeniable reality is that the growth of Facebook, nourished by hatred, division and misinformation, left in its wake hundreds of thousands of Ryingya devastated”, continues the document accessed by the France-Presse agency (AFP ).
Facebook takes action
The collective complaint filed Monday in San Francisco says that Facebook algorithms grow some user profiles to even more extremist groups than they are already, an ideal location for “autocratic leaders and regimes”.
In 2018, Facebook Acknowledged that its network had been used to stir violence in Burma and subsequently announced measures against “hate calls” of the Burmese junta. In September, a US federal judge ordered Facebook to publish the archives of these accounts related to the abuses of the Burmese army and Buddhist militias against the Muslim minority.
Refusing to return to Burma until the security and equality of rights will not be assured, refugees survive in assets and unhealthy conditions. Many Rohingya who remained in Burma do not benefit from citizenship and are down to community violence and discrimination on the part of the junta in power. The Rouhingya remaining in Burma live under the threat of a “genocide”, alerted in 2019 investigators of the United Nations (UN), requesting that those responsible to be translated before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Human Rights Defense Organizations have a long time criticized in Facebook not to commit sufficiently in the fight against misinformation and misleading information. Some criticisms ensure that even when the platform is alerted on hateful content, it does not act, which, according to them, leads to the persecution of minorities and can even weigh on the result of certain elections.
FRANCES HAUGEN, alert launcher who slammed the Facebook door in May and denounces the practices of his former employer, said before the American Congress as the network, whose mother house was recently renamed Meta, felt the “Ethnic violence” in some countries.
According to the US law, Facebook has little chance of being held responsible for messages published by its users. To circumvent this legal unclear, the Rohingya complaint highlights the fact that the Burmese law, which offers no protection of this kind, should prevail. Contacted by AFP, Facebook did not react Monday night to the announcement of the complaint.