Kenya Court Approves $2.4bn Meta Hate Speech Lawsuit

A Kenyan court has cleared a $2.4 billion (£1.8bn) lawsuit against Facebook parent Meta Platforms to proceed over an effort to hold the company liable for allegedly promoting content that inflamed violence in Ethiopia.

The case could have implications for Meta’s content moderation policies at a time when it claims to be drastically reducing its moderation efforts, under US political pressure.

The plaintiffs, two Ethiopian nationals, are seeking to have Meta alter its algorithms to stop promoting hateful material and incitements to violence, and for it to hire more moderators in Africa.

Hate speech

The case also seeks for Meta to create a $2.4bn restitution fund for victims of hate and violence incited by Facebook.

Meta has argued that local courts do not have jurisdiction over it where it is not registered as a company, including in Kenya, where its Ethiopia moderators were based at the time of the events in the case, the 2020-2022 civil war in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Kenya’s High Court rejected Meta’s argument, according to plaintiffs. Meta said it does not comment on ongoing legal matters.

One of the plaintiffs is Abrham Meareg, the son of Prof Meareg Amare Abrha, who was murdered in his home in Ethiopia after his address and threatening posts were published on Facebook in 2021.

Fisseha Tekle, another plaintiff, is a former researcher at Amnesty International who received death threats on Facebook over his work.

“It is disgraceful that Meta would argue that they should not be subject to the rule of law in Kenya. African lives matter,” Meareg said.

Tekle said he cannot return home to Ethiopia because of Meta’s moderation failures.

Moderation policies

“Meta cannot undo the damage it has done, but it can radically change how it moderates dangerous content across all its platforms to make sure no one else has to go through what I have,” said Tekle. “I look forward to this matter now being heard by the court in full.”

The case is being supported by non-profits including Katiba Institute, Foxglove and Amnesty International.

Meta has said in the past that it has invested in safety and security measures and has taken “aggressive steps” to stop the spread of misinformation in Ethiopia.

But in January the company said it was removing fact-checkers in the US and “dramatically” reducing moderation.

Meta faces a separate lawsuit in Kenya by 184 former Facebook content moderators who allege poor working conditions .