Meta “drag their feet” on incitement in Africa, says South African regulator
Tech giants such as Meta are failing to take violent incitement seriously enough in Africa or Asia, a major report by a South African government regulator has found.
In a report published yesterday (Thursday 13 November), South Africa’s Competition Commission (SACC) wrote that “…platforms are likely to take more seriously incitement in the US or EU, but drag their feet in Africa or other developing countries. For instance, Meta allegedly made algorithmic changes within a few hour[s] of the US Capitol Riots but has allowed incitement in communities in Africa and Asia to go unchecked.”
When supporters of President Trump stormed the US Congress in January 2021, Facebook used emergency ‘break the glass’ measures to try to limit the spread of violence via its platform. Now known as Meta, the company has been criticised for not acting with the same urgency outside of North America and Europe.
Foxglove, a tech justice non-profit, submitted evidence to the Commission from Abrham Meareg, whose father was murdered in Ethiopia in a racist attack after being targeted on Facebook. The platform’s algorithm had promoted posts calling for his murder, and Facebook failed to take them down until it was too late, despite multiple requests from Mr Meareg.
Commenting, Rosa Curling, co-Executive Director at Foxglove said: “The Commission is absolutely right to highlight Meta’s shameful indifference to the violence and harm it has caused in countries across Africa and Asia.
“Abrham Meareg’s father was killed after hateful posts calling for his murder were promoted by Facebook’s algorithm – and the firm failed to remove them, despite multiple requests. Yet Meta is still refusing to apologise or take steps to prevent this from happening again. It is even arguing that courts outside the US should not be allowed to consider this case.
“Meta does not have a strong record on safety anywhere – but as the Commission has found, it is totally indifferent to safety in African countries. As Abrham and too many others have found, this indifference, and the resulting lack of investment in safety, is costing lives.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. For further information, please contact press [at] foxglove.org.uk
2. The SACC’s final report can be found here:
https://www.compcom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CC_MDPMI-Final-Report_Non-Confidential-1.pdf
Its comments on Meta and incitement are at paragraph 219:
“…platforms are likely to take more seriously incitement in the US or EU, but drag their feet in Africa or other developing countries. For instance, Meta allegedly made algorithmic changes within a few hour[s] of the US Capitol Riots but has allowed incitement in communities in Africa and Asia to go unchecked. This would also be a resource allocation decision with fewer languages covered in developing countries and fewer Trusted Partners to provide context to online activity and detect harmful online trends like incitement to violence.”