The Kenyan High Court is currently presiding over a case involving two Ethiopian citizens, Abrham Meareg and Fisseha Tekle, and Kenyan civil society organization The Katiba Institute. They are accusing Meta, Facebook’s parent company, of promoting content that incited ethnic violence and resulted in killings during the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia from November 2020 to November 2022.
The petitioners claim that Facebook’s algorithmic recommendation systems prioritized and disseminated incendiary, hateful, and dangerous content during the conflict, leading to significant human rights violations. The court will determine if it has jurisdiction to hear the case.
Meta’s legal team argues that the case should not be heard in Kenya since the company is registered in the US and their terms of service mandate such claims to be filed in the US. They also contend that the alleged human rights violations occurred in Ethiopia, making Kenya an improper venue for the case.
Amnesty International stresses the challenges faced by communities impacted by corporate human rights abuses in accessing justice and effective remedies due to jurisdictional and legal hurdles. They advocate for an approach that upholds human rights obligations and corporate responsibilities to ensure justice and accountability.
The petitioners, represented by Nzili and Sumbi Advocates with support from tech-justice organization Foxglove, argue that the case can be brought to the Kenyan High Court because the content moderation operations reviewing Facebook content from Ethiopia were based in Kenya.
Other reasons cited for considering Kenyan jurisdiction include Fisseha Tekle’s residency in Kenya, safety concerns preventing his return to Ethiopia, The Katiba Institute being a Kenyan organization, and a significant Facebook user base in the country.
Amnesty International, along with six other human rights and legal organizations, are involved as interested parties in the case and have submitted written responses supporting the petition and opposing Meta’s jurisdictional challenge.
BackgroundÂ
Abrham Meareg, son of Meareg Amare, a university professor in northern Ethiopia who was killed in November 2021 after posts inciting violence against him appeared on Facebook, claims that the company only responded to reports about the posts eight days after his father’s death, despite being alerted weeks prior.
The second petitioner, Fisseha Tekle, an Amnesty International employee facing online hate due to his human rights work in Ethiopia, now resides in Kenya out of fear for his safety, highlighting the cross-border impact of Facebook’s content dissemination.
Katiba Institute, the third petitioner, brought the case in the public interest to address the unchecked spread of hate and violence on Facebook and uphold Kenya’s constitutional obligations.
The petition seeks to halt Facebook’s algorithm recommendations of such content, reform Meta’s content moderation practices, and establish a victims’ fund worth 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion USD).
The case will address the substantive issues regarding Meta’s accountability for human rights violations and suffering caused by the promoted content on Facebook.
In October 2023, Amnesty International released a report titled “A Death Sentence for My Father: Meta’s Contribution to Human Rights Abuses in Northern Ethiopia,” highlighting Meta’s role in human rights abuses against the Tigrayan community during the northern Ethiopia conflict two years ago.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.