RSF_inter has filed a complaint in Paris against Facebook, accusing it of “deceptive commercial practices”.
It said in a statement that the social networking platform Facebook “has failed to live up to its promise to provide a safe service free of hate speech and misinformation on its networks.”
The organization revealed in the statement it published on its official website that it was seeking expert analysis, personal testimonies, and statements from former Facebook employees, and confirmed that Facebook “allows misinformation and hate speech in general and hate against journalists in particular, contrary to the allegations contained. in the terms of service and through its advertisements.
To condemn this widespread and unprecedented phenomenon, “RSF_inter” has filed a lawsuit in France, where consumer law is particularly appropriate to deal with the problem and where Facebook has 38 million users,” the organization’s statement said.
Regarding its choice of France to raise its challenge, the organization said that “Facebook’s terms of service are the same worldwide, and the decision of any court has the potential to have a global impact.”
It also said it was considering similar lawsuits in other countries.
Under French consumer law, a commercial practice is considered misleading “if it is based on false allegations, declarations or statements”.
The law punishes this crime with a fine of up to 10 percent of annual turnover.
In an advertisement published in French media in early 2021, Facebook said it was providing “accurate real-time information to better fight the Corona epidemic,” and said it was working with governments and international organizations “to share reliable information about Corona while the organization sees the opposite.
Reporters Without Borders cited a report by Virts Draft, a nonprofit organization created in 2015 to fight misinformation on the Internet, which claimed that Facebook was a “hub for vaccine conspiracy theories” in French-speaking societies.
She also cited examples of what she called “death threats,” specifically the threat against journalists in the satirical cartoon magazine “Charlie Hebdo.”
According to the German Marshall Fund (GMF), Facebook posts linked to phishing sites generated 1.2 billion interactions in Q4 2020.
It also cited a previous UNESCO report published in 2020 describing Facebook as the “least secure” social media platform.
Merci à @EmmanuelDaoud et au cabinet #Vigo pour leur accompagnement pro bono pour l'élaboration de cette plainte dans le cadre de la Justice for Journalists Task Force (J4JTF) de @RSF_inter
— RSF (@RSF_inter) March 23, 2021
