Muslim Civil Rights Group Sues Facebook over Hate Speech
By Barbara Ortutay
A civil rights group is suing Facebook and its executives, saying CEO Mark Zuckerberg made “false and deceptive" statements to Congress when he said the giant social network removes hate speech and other material that violates its rules.
The lawsuit, filed by Muslim Advocates in Washington, DC, 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.
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."
The lawsuit asks the Court to require Facebook and its executives to stop making false and misleading statements about the enforcement of Facebook’s standards and policies, and seeks modest damages for the harm to Muslim Advocates.
“Facebook’s willingness to allow hate and threats that violate its own policies to run rampant on its platform is a grave societal problem, but it is also a legal problem,” said Muslim Advocates Legal Director Mary Bauer. “As we allege, by repeatedly misrepresenting that Facebook removes prohibited content when it learns of it, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and other top Facebook executives have made false and deceptive statements to Congress and their users. Because of Facebook’s failures, Muslims in America have been faced hate and threats. We hope that this lawsuit is a first step towards finally holding Facebook accountable for all the harm and hate that the company has unleashed.”
“When corporate executives testify before Congress and speak with national leaders about their businesses practices, they must tell the truth,” said Peter Romer-Friedman, a Principal at Gupta Wessler PLLC and former counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. “As we allege, Facebook’s executives have not told Congress the truth about Facebook’s enforcement of its content moderation policies, especially when it comes to anti-Muslim hate speech and groups. Just as a car company can’t make deceptive statements about its vehicles’ safety, Facebook can’t make deceptive statements to get more people to use Facebook and discourage efforts to regulate the company.”
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