Petition to Liz Kendall – tell Meta to end the promotion of hatred and violence on its platforms

To: Liz Kendall, Technology Secretary, UK Government

We call on you to use the UK government’s close relationship with Meta to demand an end to the promotion of viral hatred and violence on Meta platforms.

When you next meet with Meta, we call on you to demand it stop promoting viral hate online and start demoting violent incitement.

You can find our privacy policy here.

We the undersigned draw your attention to the case of Abrham Meareg, whose father was murdered in Ethiopia after being doxed in Facebook posts that Meta didn’t take down. Sadly, Abrham’s father is just one of many victims of real-world violence caused by dangerous content on Meta’s platforms.

You said you believe “inciting violence and hatred is not what the British people want.” You are right. But Meta’s continued failure to act on viral hate puts everyone at risk – everywhere.

Pressure from governments can force Meta to take action to prevent further dreadful harm, like the murder of Abrham’s father. We call on you to make it clear to Meta that it must:

• Stop promoting viral hate
• Start demoting violent incitement
• Train Facebook’s algorithms in all the languages in which it operates
• Apologise for Professor Meareg Amara Abrha’s death in Ethiopia, which resulted from disinformation and hate on Facebook
• Create a restitution fund for victims of hate and violence incited on Facebook