Headline

Facebook Sued For $150B Over Alleged Role In Violence

Published

2 years ago

December 11, 2021

Editor

Rohingya refugees sued social network powerhouse Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by military rulers and their supporters in Myanmar.

Years after coming under scrutiny for contributing to ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar, recently revealed internal Facebook documents show the company still has problems defining and moderating hate speech and misinformation on its platform in the country.

The breaches have even been exploited by hostile actors since the Feb. 1 military takeover this year that resulted in human rights abuses across the country.

The Rohingyas’ claims were fortified by the revelations in internal company documents that former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen provided this fall to Congress and U.S. securities regulators.

The documents could also serve to buttress potential legal action by other groups around the world harmed by hate speech and misinformation on Facebook’s platform.

Lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in California against Facebook parent Meta Platforms, 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, said in a statement Tuesday that it is “appalled by the crimes committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar” and has built a team of Burmese speakers and invested in technology to take action against harmful misinformation there.

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 the company 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 remove 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.

Facebook noted in its statement Tuesday that it has banned the military, known as the Tatmadaw, from its platform while also working to disrupt networks trying to manipulate public behavior in the country.

The lawsuit says Facebook knew that rewarding users for posting dangerous content and allowing fake accounts created by autocrats to flourish would radicalize users.

“The resulting Facebook-fueled anti-Rohingya sentiment motivated and enabled the military government of Myanmar to engage in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” the lawsuit says.

Myanmar was among several places mentioned in documents brought to light by Haugen, and reviewed by The AP, that also detailed content-monitoring lapses in Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip, India, and Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

In the U.S., extremist misinformation and inflammatory content on Facebook egged on supporters of then-President Donald Trump in the days and weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, raising the question of whether injured Capitol and District of Columbia police officers might seek to hold the company responsible. The documents open a window into how Facebook’s conflicting impulses — to nurture its business and protect democracy — clashed in the run-up to the insurrection.

“Across the board, the Facebook papers give civil rights advocates and others a lot of ammunition for their advocacy work,” Washington attorney Peter Romer-Friedman said. He is a lead attorney for a lawsuit filed by the civil rights organization Muslim Advocates in April against Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives, accusing them of falsely claiming that the company removes anti-Muslim rhetoric and other hate speech from the platform. The suit has garnered support from consumer groups and the District of Columbia’s attorney general.

Romer-Friedman said their case was bolstered “100%” by the internal documents shared by Haugen. “The world has changed a lot since early September,” he said. The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles based on the documents obtained by Haugen in September, and she went public in early October in a television interview and testimony to a Senate panel.

Another youth-led group of Rohingya based at a refugee camp in Bangladesh says it is planning to file a separate complaint against Meta in Ireland on Thursday. It’s not a lawsuit but a formal complaint with the watchdog Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calling for the company to provide some remediation programs in the camps.

Headline

Pop Star Justin Bieber Sparks Concern After Seen Crying Amid Rumours Of Rift With Wife

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has stirred concern among fans after posting a series of emotional selfies on Sunday, that has been linked to the rumoured split with his wife.

The 30-year-old singer took to Instagram over the weekend to share multiple photo dumps, offering glimpses into various aspects of his life.

From his surprise appearance at Coachella, where he performed during Tems’ set, to moments of leisure such as playing golf, enjoying the beach, smoking, and trying on different trainers, Justin Bieber’s posts provided a look into his world.

It was, however, one particular set of images that garnered significant attention from fans.

In a close-up series of selfies, Bieber appeared visibly distressed, with tears streaming down his face.

The pop star stared solemnly into the camera, his emotions laid bare for all to see, as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Despite the intimate portrayal of his emotions, Bieber offered no explanation or caption for his tearful display, leaving fans puzzled and concerned about his well-being.

Justin Bieber’s personal life has come under the spotlight since the recent rumors surrounding his marriage to wife Hailey Bieber (neé Baldwin), 27.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, has faced speculation about the state of their relationship on multiple occasions.

Concerns were raised recently when Hailey’s father, Stephen Baldwin, 57, requested “prayers” for the couple, fueling speculation about potential marital troubles.

Headline

400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

3 days ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

“We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

“Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

Headline

Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.