The son of an Ethiopian chemistry professor who was killed during unrest in the country last year has filed a lawsuit against Meta, Facebook’s parent company, alleging that the social media platform is fueling viral hate and violence, harming people across eastern and southern Africa.
Abrham Meareg Amare claims in the suit that his father, Meareg Amare, a 60-year-old Tigrayan academic, was gunned down outside his home in Bahir Dar, the capital city of Ethiopia’s Amhara region, in November 2021, after a string of hateful messages were posted on Facebook that slandered and doxed the professor, calling for his murder.
The case is a constitutional petition filed in Kenya’s High Court, which has jurisdiction over the issue, as Facebook’s content moderation operation hub for much of east and south Africa is located in Nairobi.
