NRI Affairs Correspondent (Photo by Michelangelo Buonarroti from Pexels)
The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) has lodged a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission against Facebook accusing the social media giant of ‘failing to moderate hate speech and dehumanising materials’.
The complaint, lodged under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, appears to be the first time this law has been used to rein in discrimination by tech companies operating in Australia.
The complaint alleges direct and indirect discrimination by the platform and liability for hate.
“AMAN will represent Australian Muslims of Arab, Middle-Eastern, South Asian, Asian, African backgrounds, or immigrant status in Australia,” says the network in a statement.
“AMAN has been observing Facebook’s performance for more than a year and engaging in good faith discussions to propose policy changes,” reads the statement.
“Our concern is that Facebook only takes action when the community does the heavy-lifting in documenting the violations and is prepared to escalate through media,” says AMAN Advisor Rita Jabri-Markwell.
NRI Affairs has approached Facebook for a comment and the response is awaited.
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