Amnesty International accuses Facebook of human rights violations in Ethiopia

A new report by Amnesty International, released on Tuesday, found that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, contributed to the exacerbation of human rights violations during the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia from November 2020 to November 2022.

The report, titled ‘A death sentence for my father’: Meta’s contribution to human rights abuses in northern Ethiopia”, provides a harrowing account of how Meta’s algorithmic systems and business practices contributed to acts of violence, particularly against people of the Tigrayan people.

According to the report, Meta failed to take adequate measures to address “violent hate speech and the threat to people’s lives on its platforms.”

Despite repeated warnings from Ethiopian civil society groups and human rights experts about the dangers in escalating tensions and the prevalence of violence during the conflict, the platform did not take any preventive measures to protect users from the dangers of violence resulting from the content of such speeches.

The report states that several warnings were issued before and after the outbreak of fighting in November 2020, highlighting the real danger that Meta’s platforms could be exploited to spread misinformation and incite violence, without adequate safeguards.

“After three years of its shocking failures in Myanmar, Meta once again, through its content shaping algorithms and data-based business model, contributed to dangerous human rights violations in Ethiopia,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard.

The organization called for urgent and comprehensive reforms, including emergency measures for Meta to reduce the algorithmic amplification of content in crisis situations, noting the need for countries to regulate major technology companies to protect human rights and ensure accountability for any human rights violations that these companies may cause or allow, whether through product design choices or failure to implement adequate safeguards.

The Ethiopian government has not issued any official response to Amnesty International’s allegations, but observers estimate that Addis Ababa will benefit from this report in support of its demands for the extradition of activists residing abroad, whom it accuses of involvement in incitement to violence and the spread of hate speech.