*

Kenyan court allows lawsuit against Meta for Ethiopia

violence

posts

*

Plaintiffs demand restitution fund and algorithm changes

from

Meta

*

Meta faces multiple lawsuits in Kenya over content

moderation

issues

NAIROBI, April 4 (Reuters) - A Kenyan court has ruled

that Facebook's parent company Meta can be sued in the

East African country over its alleged role in promoting content

that led to ethnic violence in neighbouring Ethiopia, a

plaintiff in the case said.

The landmark case, which stems from alleged hate speech on

the platform during the 2020-2022 civil war in northern

Ethiopia's Tigray region, could have implications for how Meta

works with content moderators globally.

The company has argued that local courts do not have the

power to hear cases against it where it is not registered as a

company.

Kenya's High Court rejected that argument in its ruling on

Thursday, said the Katiba Institute, which is a plaintiff in the

case alongside two Ethiopian researchers.

"The court here has refused to shy away from determining an

important global matter, recognising that homegrown issues must

be addressed directly in our courts," said Nora Mbagathi, the

institute's executive director.

A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request

for comment.

The plaintiffs allege that Facebook's recommendation systems

amplified violent posts in Ethiopia during the Tigray war.

Plaintiff Abrham Meareg alleges that his father, Meareg

Amare, was killed in 2021 following threatening posts on

Facebook. Fisseha Tekle, an Amnesty International researcher,

says he faced online hate for human rights work in Ethiopia.

They are demanding that Meta create a restitution fund for

victims of hate and violence and alter Facebook's algorithm to

stop promoting hate speech.

Meta has previously said it invested heavily in content

moderation and removed hateful content from the platform.

The case is the third to be brought against Meta in Kenya,

where the company also faces lawsuits from content moderators

employed by a local contractor who say they faced poor working

conditions and were fired for trying to organise a union.

Meta has responded that it requires partners to provide

industry-leading conditions.

The company, which had invested billions and hired thousands

of content moderators globally over the years to police

sensitive content, in January scrapped its U.S. fact-checking

program.

It also said at the time that it would stop proactively

scanning for hate speech and other types of rule-breaking,

reviewing such posts only in response to user reports.