A non-profit organization supporting a Kenyan man's lawsuit against Meta, Facebook's parent company, says the firm has fought to avoid responsibility for promoting posts calling for his father's murder during Ethiopia's civil war. The case, filed in 2022, is still pending nearly four years later. Meanwhile, Meta settled a US lawsuit brought by 29 states for $18 billion, agreeing to change certain platform features and set time limits on children's use of its platforms. The settlement has sparked questions about whether other countries can demand similar concessions from Meta.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-28,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In October 2021, Abrham Meareg’s father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia’s northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home.
asserted
father → shoot → home
For weeks, Facebook’s algorithm had actively promoted posts calling for the academic to be murdered, according to Meareg and Foxglove, a nonprofit organisation supporting Meareg’s lawsuit against the company in Kenya.
uncertain
academic → promote → Kenya
These posts included photos of his father and his home address.
asserted
posts → include → father
Meareg filed the lawsuit in 2022.
asserted
Meareg → file → 2022
He said he repeatedly asked Facebook to remove the posts and the company did nothing.
asserted
company → say → nothing
Nearly four years later, the case has still not been heard.
asserted
case → hear → ?
Foxglove said Meta, Facebook’s parent company, had “fought tooth and nail to avoid responsibility”.
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Meta → say → responsibility
Meareg said: “It’s a matter of numbers to them, a matter of statistics.
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It → say → statistics
It has been proven multiple times that our lives do not matter to them.
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lives → prove → them
On Wednesday, Meta settled a lawsuit brought by 29 US states who argued it had designed addictive products that hooked young people.
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that → settle → people
The social media company agreed to pay $18bn and to change certain features of its platform in the US.
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company → agree → US
California’s attorney general said it was a victory that would make “a world of difference for children and their families”.
asserted
that → say → children
But elsewhere in the world, in jurisdictions as far flung as Amsterdam and Nairobi, other claims have yet to be heard.
uncertain
claims → have → Amsterdam
Far bigger questions about the power of a single US technology company to shape politics and democracy everywhere on Earth are still to be answered.
asserted
questions → shape → Earth
A jury has done what the US Congress could not – put controls on a powerful tech company.
uncertain
Congress → do → company
As a part of the settlement, Meta has said it will set time limits on children’s use of its platforms Facebook and Instagram and block night-time usage.
asserted
it → say → usage
Its share price rose in the hours after the deal was announced.
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deal → rise → hours
Its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was not forced to testify.
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CEO → force → ?
The sum it is to pay, while not meaningless, is far less than the states had sought – $200bn – or the amount Meta itself had suggested in a court filing it might have to pay, which was up to $1.4tn.
uncertain
which → pay → filing
The limits Meta will put on its US platform are, in large part, similar to limits the UK and Australia have already achieved through regulation.
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UK → put → regulation
There are certain concessions Meta has now made that other governments could also demand: for example, while the UK plans to ban under-16s from social media platforms, it may wish to ask Meta to impose a default daily use limit of two hours for under-18s, which is what the company has agreed to in the US.
uncertain
company → be → US
None of this meaningfully changes the equation for Meareg or what his case represents, which is that a massive US company, unaccountable to voters, unbound by transparency requirements, owns a worldwide digital commons that shapes reality for billions of people.
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that → change → people
Whether courts and governments outside the US have the power to confront this fact is a far thornier question.
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have → confront → fact
This is the system that decides what content to show users of Facebook and Instagram.
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that → decide → Facebook
It sees you linger over a video about knitting sweaters, for example, and then decides you’ll like one about how to care for your spider plant.
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you → see → plant
It sees teenage girls watch diet content and shows them anorexia influencers.
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girls → see → influencers
It sees young men search for bodybuilding content and shows them Andrew Tate.
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men → see → Tate
It is alleged to have amplified content that promoted the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
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that → allege → Myanmar
It contributed to the election victory of Donald Trump.
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It → contribute → Trump
Meareg’s lawsuit rests on the claim that this algorithm promoted the posts that called for the death of his father, and that Facebook’s sparse moderation in east Africa did almost nothing to prevent this.
uncertain
moderation → rest → this
In the early days of the Meta trial in the US, it seemed plausible that states would push the social media firm to finally make some changes to this algorithm.
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states → seem → algorithm
Those changes had the potential to fundamentally alter how the company does business.
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company → have → business
Meta’s algorithm is intended to keep users scrolling, stuck on the platform, and then it shows them ads.
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it → intend → ads
But that is not what appears to have happened.
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what → appear → ?
The terms of the settlement will slightly change what is shown to minors, in that they will not necessarily have personalised feeds.
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they → change → feeds
But it is hard to see this concession changing the equation in war zones or creaking democracies.
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concession → see → zones
Arturo Béjar, an ex-Facebook employee and whistleblower, said the limitations were “the equivalent of saying: ‘Well, you can smoke as many cigarettes as you can in two hours a day.’
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you → say → hours
It doesn’t make the cigarettes any safer.”
It may be up to groups and individuals elsewhere in the world to try to push for these larger changes.
uncertain
It → make → changes
In Kenya, the high court recently ruled that Meareg’s case against Meta could go ahead, after years of legal manoeuvring from the company to try to prevent it.
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case → rule → it
It could now be heard in the next year.
uncertain
It → hear → year
…and 22 more, not listed.
