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French Muslims sue Facebook, YouTube over Christchurch footage

One of the main groups representing Muslims in France is suing Facebook and YouTube, accusing the media companies of inciting violence by allowing the streaming of footage of the Christchurch massacre on their platforms.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith said the companies had disseminated material that encouraged terrorism and harmed the dignity of human beings.

The shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on March 15, which killed 50 people, was livestreamed on Facebook for 17 minutes and then copied and shared on social media sites across the internet.

However, footage could still be found on Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's YouTube a few hours after the attack, as well as Facebook-owned Instagram and Whatsapp.

Abdallah Zekri, president of the CFCM's Islamophobia monitoring unit, said the organisation had launched a formal legal complaint against Facebook and YouTube in France.

The chair of the US House Committee on Homeland Security wrote a letter to top executives of four major technology companies last week urging them to do a better job of removing violent political content.

He said his organisation had been planning to contact Facebook to register their complaint but had been busy dealing with the aftermath of the attacks.

A man has been charged with one count of murder over the Christchurch shootings and will next appear in court on April 5.

Original article
Author: Aljazeera

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