Rohingya refugees in Myanmar are suing Facebook for $ 150 billion for failing to stop the spread of hate speech, which has led to severe violence against them in Myanmar
This week, law firms in the United States and the United Kingdom launched a legal campaign against Facebook’s parent company Mata, amid allegations that executives knew about posts, groups and anti-Rohingya accounts on the social network, and did little to curb them.
As you may recall, the Myanmar army launched a large-scale offensive against the Rohingya Muslims, deporting close to a million of them to neighboring Bangladesh. Su Chi who was the leader of Minamar was silent throughout that period and did not make a voice of protest against the heinous crime, which clouded her name in the eyes of the whole world.
Her silence did not help her face the military junta in the country, and ten months after the Myanmar army took control of the country’s institutions and overthrew the elected government, the man who is considered the national leader of the Burmese, San Su Chi, was sentenced to four years in prison. Suu Kyi previously led the protest against the military junta and has been under house arrest for about two decades.
Subsequently, Su Chi’s name was blackened in the eyes of the world, after the Myanmar army launched a large-scale attack on the Rohingya Muslims, deporting close to a million of them to neighboring Bangladesh. Su Chi was silent throughout that period and made no protest.
Ten months ago, the Myanmar army carried out the coup and imprisoned Su Chi. Indictments have been filed against her in several different cases, including a violation of corona regulations in the country. Su Chi confessed to all the charges and this week she was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted on all counts.
Now Rohingya refugees are suing Facebook for $ 150 billion for doing nothing to minimize the incitement against them, incitement that led to the deaths of many of them, according to a website set up for the campaign, the UK lawsuit will be on behalf of those living anywhere outside the country Alliance, while the U.S. prosecution will represent those living in the country.
The lawyers represent “Rohingya people around the world, including those living in refugee camps in Bangladesh,” the website said. “Prosecutors will seek to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation,” said Mishkon de Reyes, one of the UK law firms handling the complaint in the UK.
The lawsuits accuse Facebook of using algorithms “that have increased hate speech against the Rohingya on its platform,” as well as failed to “download specific posts that incite violence against or contain hate speech directed at the Rohingya,” Mishkon de Ria. Wrote in a statement. Facebook also “failed to close specific accounts or delete specific groups or pages, which were used to spread hate speech and / or incitement to violence,” the statement said.
Facebook / Dead refused to comment on the lawsuit against her, CNN reported.
The chance of a win is not great, in the United States, Facebook will generally be protected from such liability by section 230 of the Communications Act, which removes from it liability for posts posted by a third party. But the prosecution is asking the court to apply Burmese law instead, which does not provide such protections.
Josh Davis, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law with expertise in class action lawsuits, told CNN that “American courts are generally reluctant to take on such cases.” He added that “it is difficult to prove that Facebook’s actions caused damage to the Rohingya.”
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, numbering about one million people. Myanmar does not count them as citizens, nor as belonging to one of the country’s recognized ethnic groups. In 2016 and 2017, the military launched a brutal killing and arson campaign that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, causing a genocide case to be heard in the International Court of Justice. The UN commission called the violence “an example of ethnic cleansing”.