Facebook has been routinely accused of doing too little to stop the spread of hate and misinformation, and now, the social media giant is facing a lawsuit over its alleged inaction.
The non-profit press freedom group called Reports Without Borders or RSF has sued Facebook in France for allegedly violating the country's consumer code with deceptive promises to fight misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
Facebook sued in France
The social media giant claims to offer a safe and error-free space to all of its users, according to RSF's argument, but in practice, Facebook has let hate and misinformation spread and the assailants did not receive any repercussions for their actions.
The journalism advocacy group had given examples where hate and misinformation were allowed to spread in France.
While the social media platform says it bans vaccine misinformation, the non-profit First Draft labeled Facebook as the hub of vaccine conspiracies in France. It also let COVID-19 conspiracy videos go unchecked, according to the study presented by the AFP.
RSF claimed that Facebook had not done enough to stop the hate speech and threats against Charlie Hebdo, a French journalist who was killed in 2015.
RSF also pointed out that Facebook is still not doing anything to remove the hate speeches towards the journalists of the newspaper L'Union and the staff of the French political TV show Quotidien. UNESCO had even deemed Facebook the least safe place for female journalists.
Engadget had reached out to Facebook for a comment but has not replied yet as of writing.
There is a possibility that Facebook may create a new and enhanced tool that can help catch and flag harassment, misinformation, and hate speech. Facebook may also immediately remove some posts.
This can prove that the tech giant is doing something to combat hate and misinformation on the platform, even though it is not much. The lawsuit may hinge on convincing the court that the social media platform should be doing more.
If the lawsuit against Facebook is successful, it could have major repercussions.
According to RSF, Facebook's terms of service are similar worldwide, and any mandated changes may apply to other countries.
The legal battle by itself might put pressure on Facebook to step up its efforts and to be more strict with what is posted on the platform.
Facebook's stance on misinformation
In February, Facebook and Instagram removed more than 1 million pieces of content containing misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines as they could lead to imminent harm.
The contents that they took down included fake preventative measures for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, and false cures, Facebook's Vice President of Integrity Guy Rosen said.
According to CNET, Facebook has been taking a tougher stance against health misinformation since the pandemic started. Facebook announced that it is expanding its list of debunked claims about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
Some of the false claims that Facebook does not allow to be posted on the platform include stating that the coronavirus is human-made or is manufactured or that vaccines are more dangerous than getting the disease itself.
Groups, accounts, and pages on Facebook and Instagram that repeatedly share these false claims could be banned from the said platforms.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
