French Muslim group sues Facebook, YouTube over NZ attack video

PARIS: The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) said Monday
(Mar 25) it was suing Internet giants Facebook and YouTube for
allowing the public broadcast of a live video by the man who
carried out the New Zealand mosque massacre this month.

The council said it was suing the French branches of the two
tech giants for “broadcasting a message with violent content
abetting terrorism, or of a nature likely to seriously violate
human dignity and liable to be seen by a minor,” according to the
complaint, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

In France, such acts can be punished by three years’
imprisonment and a 75,000 euro (US$85,000) fine.

Facebook said it “quickly” removed the live video showing the
killing of 50 people by a white supremacist in twin mosque attacks
in Christchurch on March 15.

But the livestream lasting 17 minutes was shared extensively on
YouTube and Twitter, and Internet platforms had to scramble to
remove videos being reposted of the gruesome scene.

The CFCM, which represents several million Muslims in France,
said it took Facebook 29 minutes after the beginning of the
broadcast to take it down.

Major Internet platforms have pledged to crack down on the
sharing of violent images and other inappropriate content through
automated systems and human monitoring, but critics say this is not
working.

Internet platforms have cooperated to develop technology that
filters child pornography, but have stopped short of joining forces
on violent content.

A US congressional panel last week called on top executives from
Facebook and YouTube, as well as Microsoft and Twitter, to explain
the online proliferation of the “horrific” New Zealand video.

The panel, the House Committee on Homeland Security, said it was
“critically important” to filter the kind of violent images seen in
the video.