CIVICUS speaks with Mercy Mutemi, a Kenyan tech lawyer at Nzili and Sumbi Advocates and legal counsel for petitioners challenging Facebook’s role in hate and violence in Ethiopia.
On 3 April, Kenya’s High Court allowed a landmark lawsuit against Meta to proceed. The lawsuit, valued at US$2.4 billion, was filed in Kenya because Meta’s regional content moderation was carried out by a contractor based there. It was brought by two Ethiopian nationals and a Kenyan civil society organisation who accuse Facebook of promoting hate and incitement during Ethiopia’s civil war. One of the claimants’ father was killed after being doxed on the platform. The case seeks a restitution fund, improved content moderation and systemic reform. Meta continues to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, but digital rights groups believe the lawsuit could establish a global precedent for platform accountability for online-incited violence.
