Rohingya refugees sue Facebook, alleging online hate speech incited genocide

A class-action complaint filed in a California state court by attorneys representing certain unnamed Rohingya Muslim refugees accuses Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. of negligence that contributed to the Myanmar military's genocide of Rohingya Muslim people.

Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The complaint, filed Dec. 6, alleges that the Rohingya people suffered increased violence and acts of genocide following the 2011 introduction of Facebook in the country of Myanmar. Specifically, the complaint alleges that problematic algorithms and inadequate checks on the proliferation of hate speech on Facebook's platform contributed to rising violence and eventually terrorism and genocide against the Rohingya people. The plaintiff, named as Jane Doe in the suit, is seeking $150 billion in compensatory damages on behalf of herself and others in her class.

The refugees are seeking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. In addition to the U.S. complaint, filed on behalf of a representative claimant and an estimated 10,000 Rohingya residents living the U.S., a spokesperson for attorneys handling the case said an additional lawsuit will be filed imminently in the U.K. on behalf of Rohingya people living in that country.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed questions about Facebook's role in facilitating the spread of hate speech in Myanmar in a 2018 U.S. Senate hearing and written follow up testimony. In that testimony, Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company had moved "too slow" in handling reports of hate speech in the country but said it had worked to address the issue by hiring Burmese and Sinhalese-language content reviewers and investing in technology to respond more quickly to reports of abusive speech in the future.

Meta is already facing a whirlwind of regulatory and public scrutiny after former employee Frances Haugen leaked documents about the company's practices.