WASHINGOTN — A civil rights group is suing Facebook and its executives, saying CEO Mark Zuckerberg made “false and deceptive” statements to Congress.
Zuckerberg told Congress the giant social network removes hate speech and other material that violates its rules.
The lawsuit, filed by Muslim Advocates in Washington, Superior Court on Thursday, claims Zuckerberg and other senior executives “have engaged in a coordinated campaign to convince the public, elected representatives, federal officials, and non-profit leaders in the nation’s capital that Facebook is a safe product.”
Facebook, the lawsuit alleges, has been repeatedly alerted to hate speech and calls to violence on its platform and done nothing or very little.
Making false and deceptive statements about removing hateful and harmful content violates the District of Columbia’s consumer-protection law and its bar on fraud, the lawsuit says.
“Every day, ordinary people are bombarded with harmful content in violation of Facebook’s own policies on hate speech, bullying, harassment, dangerous organizations, and violence,” the lawsuit says. “Hateful, anti-Muslim attacks are especially pervasive on Facebook.”
In a statement, Facebook said it does not allow hate speech on its platform and said it regularly works with “experts, non-profits, and stakeholders to help make sure Facebook is a safe place for everyone, recognizing anti-Muslim rhetoric can take different forms.
The company based in Menlo Park, California, said it has invested in artificial intelligence technologies aimed at removing hate speech and proactively detects 97% of what it removes.
Facebook declined to comment beyond the statement, which did not address the lawsuit’s allegations that it has not removed hate speech and anti-Muslim networks from its platform even after it was notified of their existence.
The plaintiffs seek a jury trial and damages of $1,500 per violation.
For example, the lawsuit cites research by Elon University professor Megan Squire, who published research about anti-Muslim groups on Facebook and alerted the company.
According to the lawsuit, Facebook did not remove the groups — but it did change how outside academics can access its platform so that the kind of research Squire did would be “impossible other than if done by Facebook employees.”
Facebook’s hate speech policy prohibits targeting a person or group with “dehumanizing speech or imagery,” calls for violence, references to subhumanity and inferiority as well as generalizations that state inferiority.
The policy applies to attacks on the basis of race, religion, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease.
But in one example from April 25, 2018, Squire reported to Facebook a group called “Purge Worldwide,” according to the lawsuit. The group’s description reads: “This is an anti-Islamic group A Place to share information about what is happening in your part of the world.”
Facebook responded that it would not remove the group or the content. The lawsuit cites other examples of groups with names like “Death to Murdering Islamic Muslim Cult Members” and “Filth of Islam” that Facebook did not remove despite being notified, even though Facebook policy prohibits “reference or comparison to filth” on the basis of religion. In the latter case Facebook did remove some posts from the group, but not the group itself.
The lawsuit also cites an exception Facebook made to its policy for former President Donald Trump, for whom Facebook made an exception to its rules when he posted as a candidate in 2016 about banning all Muslims from entering the US
Zuckerberg and other social media executives have repeatedly testified before Congress about how they combat extremism, hate and misinformation on their platforms. Zuckerberg told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the issue is “nuanced.”
Muslim civil rights group sues Facebook over hate speech
https://arab.news/8cyvt
Muslim civil rights group sues Facebook over hate speech
- Lawsuit alleges Facebook was repeatedly alerted to hate speech and calls to violence on its platform and done nothing or very little
- “Hateful, anti-Muslim attacks are especially pervasive on Facebook” says lawsuit
Suspect in German Christmas market attack was ‘not quite what many rushed to assume’, veteran British journalist says
- ‘Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia’
DUBAI: British journalist Andrew Neil said the attacker behind Friday night’s deadly car-ramming at a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany appeared to be ‘not quite what many on social media rushed to assume.’
“Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia,” the veteran journalist posted on his social media account.
The suspect, who was identified by German authorities as 50-year-old Saudi psychologist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, who had permanent residency and had lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the car-ramming remained unknown, and a police operation was under way in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect was believed to have lived.
The Saudi doctor behind last night’s deadly Christmas market massacre in Magdeburg appears to be not quite what many on social media rushed to assume.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) December 21, 2024
Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia.…
Reports have noted that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker, who had posted extremist views on his personal X account. Germany’s Der Spiegel said the attacker sympathized with the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The magazine did not say where it got the information.
“Various media reports suggest he helped ex-Muslims, particularly women, to flee Saudi Arabia after turning their backs on Islam,” Neil commented. Neil also noted that the suspect posted tweets in support Elon Musk, jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson and malevolent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
“His social media posts also indicate he thought Germany not doing enough to help Saudi female asylum seekers who had rejected Islam – and that the authorities were trying to undermine his work on their behalf,” the British journalist added.
“In his recent social-media posts published days before the attack he claimed the German government was promoting Islamisation and accused authorities of censoring and persecuting him because of his critical views of Islam. On his website, he warned prospective refugees to avoid Germany because of its government’s tolerance of radical Islam,” Neil said.
Christmas markets are a huge part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition, and the violence has prompted other German towns to cancel their weekend events as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.
Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.
Syrian Al-Jazeera presenter returns to post-Assad Hama after 12 years in exile
- Fakhouri, a former presenter at the Syrian TV station, fled the country in 2012 after tight censorship
- He was interrogated by the State Security Department over revolution coverage
DUBAI: Syrian Al-Jazeera presenter Ahmad Fakhouri received an overwhelming welcome from crowds of hundreds of people as he returned to his hometown Hama after 12 years in exile.
In a video posted on his social media channels, Fakhouri is seen waving at huge crowds who gathered in the streets in a collective moment of celebration after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.
“Come to us, Fakhouri,” people cheered and chanted, inviting him to join the celebrations in the video which Fakhouri captioned: “The people of Hama. None but you are my family and my support.”
Fakhouri, a former presenter at the Syrian TV station, fled the country in 2012 after tight censorship was placed on the media during the days of the revolution.
During a 2013 interview with Al Jazeera, Fakhouri said he was not allowed to cover the protests, then later was asked to use derogatory terms, such as “terrorists, infiltrators, and enemies of the homeland,” to describe the demonstrators.
“I was naive enough to ask Bouthaina Shaaban (media advisor to the Syrian Presidency) during high-level meetings to allow us to conduct interviews with the opposition, thinking that Syrian television belonged to the people and not to a specific faction,” Fakhouri had told Al Jazeera at the time.
He also reported being under constant surveillance from security and intelligence officers as a presenter.
Rejecting the regime’s policies that insisted on denying the protests, Fakhouri said he refrained from presenting live news, limiting his work to the weekly news bulletin. When he first decided to leave Syria, he discovered he was banned from travelling.
Shortly afterwards, he was summoned for an interrogation at the State Security Department, facing charges of inciting sectarian divisions and cooperating with foreign entities to disrupt public security. He was also accused of receiving money from his expatriate brother “to fund armed terrorists.”
He reported being blindfolded, and hearing “sounds of torture” and insults directed at detainees across from his interrogation room.
When he was released at the request of the media minister, Fakhouri decided to head to Aleppo where he hid for several months before the Free Syrian Army facilitated his escape.
“I do not need to mention why I decided to leave the regime's grip as everyone is aware of Assad’s crimes against the Syrian people,” said Fakhouri, noting that several of his media colleagues were detained over extended periods, including some who were died under torture.
“I can confirm that most of those working in Syrian media are looking for an opportunity to escape like I did.”
Fakhouri begun his journey in the media at the state radio in 2004 before moving to become a presenter in the Syrian TV.
After he left Syria, he became known for hosting the “Trending” news bulletin at BBC Arabic until he joined Al Jazeera as a presenter and documentary maker in 2022.
Fakhouri was among many Syrian expats who returned to a nation where jubilation took over since Assad’s iron-fisted regime was toppled by a lightning 11-day rebel offensive spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group on Dec. 8.
Since the fall of Assad’s five-decade dynastic rule, harrowing accounts of torture and executions of political prisoners, activists, and regime critics in state prisons — most notably the infamous Sednaya — have emerged publicly.
Media group urges release of detained South Sudan journalist
- Emmanuel Monychol Akop, editor-in-chief of local The Dawn newspaper, has not been seen since November 28
NAIROBI: South Sudan has detained a leading journalist, an international media organization said Friday as it urged his immediate release.
News of the apparent arrest followed a warning by the United Nations which denounced arbitrary detentions, including those of opposition party members or individuals associated with them.
Emmanuel Monychol Akop, editor-in-chief of local The Dawn newspaper, has not been seen since November 28, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The international monitoring group said he had been detained by National Security Services (NSS) agents, citing his colleagues and an individual familiar with his case, who said he had been summoned to the organization’s headquarters in capital Juba.
“South Sudanese authorities must bring editor Emmanuel Monychol Akop before a court, present credible charges or release him unconditionally,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program.
She said the NSS had a “reputation for running roughshod over the rights of journalists,” adding that this detention “further tarnishes an already dismal press freedom record.”
Manager at The Dawn newspaper Moses Guot told the CPJ there were worries about Akop’s security.
“They should allow us to see him, at least to know about his health, and that would be a good start,” he said.
Akop was also detained in 2019 following a Facebook post criticizing a minister’s appearance during a diplomatic visit. He was held for a month before being released.
The arrest comes weeks after gunfire broke out at the home of a recently sacked intelligence chief, spooking many in the young country which since independence has grappled with insecurity.
In September South Sudan once again postponed the first elections in the nation’s history, pushing them back another two years.
South Sudan is one of the poorest countries on the planet despite large oil reserves and ranks 177 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index.
Two journalists killed in north Syria by ‘Turkish drone’
- Nazim Dastan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, were killed near the Tishrin dam east of Alepp
- The pair worked for Syrian Kurdish media outlets Rojnews and the Anha news agency
BEIRUT: Two journalists from Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast have been killed, reportedly by a Turkish drone, while covering the fighting between an Ankara-backed militia and US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, journalists’ groups said Friday.
Nazim Dastan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, were killed on Thursday near the Tishrin dam east of Aleppo when their car was hit, the Dicle Firat Journalists’ Association said.
“We condemn this attack on our colleagues and demand accountability,” it said.
The pair worked for Syrian Kurdish media outlets Rojnews and the Anha news agency.
The Turkish Journalists Union also condemned the attack, saying they were “allegedly targeted by a Turkish UAV,” the technical name for a drone.
“We condemn the attack. Journalists cannot be subjected to attack while performing a sacred duty. Those responsible must be found and tried,” the union’s branch in the southeastern Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir said.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two journalists had been killed in Aleppo province by a “Turkish drone strike.”
The pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency also blamed a Turkish drone.
The Turkish army insists it never targets civilians but only terror groups.
The incident comes amid mounting concerns over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab.
Ankara is hoping Syria’s new Islamist HTS rulers will take steps to address the issue of Kurdish fighters in the north.
“If they address this issue properly, there would be no reason for us to intervene,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this week.
Turkiye pushed for Assad’s ouster when the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011 with the violent suppression of peaceful protesters.
But after backing various opposition groups, Turkiye more recently shifted its focus to blocking what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2019 dubbed a “terror corridor” in northern Syria, meaning the large area controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which is backed by the US.
A Turkish defense ministry source on Thursday said Ankara would push ahead with its military preparations until Kurdish fighters “disarm,” stressing the ongoing threat along its border with Syria.
Israel media report accuses troops of indiscriminate killing of Gaza civilians
- Haaretz quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Gaza Strip
- Batallion commander: ‘Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist — no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone’s a terrorist’
JERUSALEM: A leading Israeli newspaper, citing unnamed soldiers serving in Gaza, described indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians in the territory’s Netzarim Corridor, prompting a firm rejection Friday from the military.
Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country’s right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in the Gaza Strip.
They alleged commanders had ordered or allowed the killing of unarmed women, children and men in the Netzarim Corridor, a seven-kilometer-wide (4.3-mile-wide) strip of land that cuts across Gaza from Israel to the Mediterranean, and which has been turned into a military zone.
The report quoted an officer who recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 militants were killed, when actually “only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives.”
Soldiers meanwhile told Haaretz they received questionable orders to open fire on “anyone who enters” Netzarim.
“Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist — no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone’s a terrorist,” a soldier quoted a battalion commander as saying.
The soldiers also described how division commanders received “expanded powers” allowing them to bomb buildings or launch air strikes that previously required approval from the army’s top echelons.
The allegations contained in the Haaretz report could not be independently verified.
In a statement to AFP, the military rejected the accusations.
“All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army),” it said.
The military added that “all strikes in the area (of Netzarim) are conducted in accordance with the mandatory procedures and protocols, including targets that are struck in an urgent time frame due to essential operational circumstances where ground forces face immediate threats.”
“Incidents that give rise to concerns of deviations from IDF’s orders or ethical standards are thoroughly examined and addressed.”
Many soldiers who spoke to Haaretz pointed to a specific commander, Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach, who last summer took charge of Division 252, which has been based in Netzarim.
One of the soldiers said of Vach — who was born in the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank — that “his worldview and political positions were clearly driving his operational decisions.”
Another soldier said Vach had declared “there are no innocents in Gaza.”
The military said that the “statements attributed to him... were not made by him.”
“Any claim asserting otherwise is entirely baseless.”
The Haaretz report said Israeli soldiers spoke to the newspaper so that the Israeli “people need to know how this war really looks like, and what serious acts some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza.”
“They need to know the inhuman scenes we’re witnessing.”
Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the current war, also reacted to the Haaretz report.
It said the testimonies offered “new evidence of unprecedented war crimes and full-fledged ethnic cleansing operations, carried out in an organized manner.”
Hamas, which has also been accused of indiscriminate killings of Israelis and other civilians on October 7 last year, demanded that the United Nations and the International Court of Justice “document these testimonies and take the necessary steps to stop the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
