Rohingya refugees sue Facebook for USD 150 billion, alleging role in violence
London, Dec 7: Rohingya refugees sued Facebook parent Meta Platforms for more than USD 150 billion over what they say was the company's failure to stop hateful posts that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by Myanmar's military rulers and their supporters.
Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in California saying "Facebook's arrival in Myanmar helped spread hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence that amounted to a substantial cause, and eventual perpetuation of, the Rohingya genocide."
Lawyers in the United Kingdom have issued notice of their intention to file a similar legal action. Facebook, which was recently renamed Meta, did not immediately, reply to a request for comment.
It's the latest in a series of accusations that the social media giant fueled misinformation and political violence, outlined in redacted internal documents obtained by a consortium of news organizations, including The Associated Press.
The combined legal claims from Rohingya refugees are being filed on behalf of anyone worldwide who survived the violence or had a relative who died from it.
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group forced to flee persecution and violence in Myanmar starting in 2017, with an estimated 1 million living in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. Some 10,000 have ended up in the United States.
In 2018, United Nations human rights experts investigating attacks against the Rohingya said Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech.
More than 10,000 Rohingya have been killed and more than 150,000 were subject to physical violence, according to the law firms organizing the cases.
The lawsuits say Facebook's algorithms amplified hate speech against the Rohingya people and that it didn't spend enough money to hire moderators and fact checkers who spoke the local languages or understood the political situation.
They also say Facebook failed to shut accounts and pages or take down posts inciting violence or using hate speech directed at the ethnic group.
Facebook arrived in Myanmar in 2011, arranging for millions of residents to access the internet for the first time, according to the lawsuit filed in California Superior Court for San Mateo County. But the lawsuit says the company did little to warn people about the dangers of online misinformation and fake accounts tactics employed by the military in its campaign against the Rohingya.
The lawsuit says Facebook knew that rewarding users for posting dangerous content and allowing fake accounts created by autocrats to flourish would radicalize users.
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ED raids Kolkata Police deputy commissioner, businessman in PMLA probe
Kolkata (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday conducted raids at the premises of Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sinha Biswas and a local businessman as part of a money laundering probe against an alleged criminal and his linked syndicate in the poll-bound state, officials said.
Two premises of Biswas, including his residence in Ballygunge area and one location of the businessman named Joy Kamdar, Managing Director of a company named Sun Enterprise, have been raided under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Kamdar has been taken by the officials to the local ED office for questioning. Biswas, chief coordinator and nodal officer of the West Bengal and Kolkata Police welfare committee, was not present at his premises, they said.
The action is linked to a money laundering case against an alleged local criminal named Biswajit Podder alias Sona Pappu, who is booked in multiple cases on charges of attempted murder and extortion.
The federal probe agency had conducted the first round of searches in this case on April 1.
The ED had then seized cash of Rs 1.47 crore apart from gold jewellery and silver valued at Rs 67.64 lakh and a country-made revolver from some premises that were searched.
The probe stems from a Kolkata Police FIR against against Podder for his alleged involvement in rioting, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and Arms Act violations. The accused, including Podder, were engaged in organised criminal syndicate activities in the state of West Bengal and generated funds illegally by way of syndicate operations, the ED said in a statement on April 9.
Podder is also wanted by the police in a case of violence in Kankulia road near Golpark of Kolkata and is currently on the run.
The ED has issued summons to Podder but he has failed to join the investigation so far, according to the agency.
West Bengal will have a two phase poll on April 23 and April 29.
