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Facebook deletes Ethiopia PM's post that urged citizens to 'bury' rebels

Facebook has removed a post from Ethiopia's prime minister for violating its policies against inciting violence.

On Sunday, Abiy Ahmed called on citizens take up arms to block the advance of the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The TPLF has fought a year-long campaign against government forces, capturing key towns in recent days.

Facebook has been criticised for failing to do more to stop its platform being used to incite violence.

In the post, Mr Abiy said that the rebel advance was "pushing the country to its demise," and he urged citizens to "organise and march through [any] legal manner with every weapon and power... to prevent, reverse and bury the terrorist TPLF".

A spokesperson for Facebook, whose parent company recently rebranded to Meta, told the BBC: "We were made aware of a post by Ethiopia's Prime Minister and removed this for violating our policies against inciting and supporting violence.

Continue reading https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59154984

Facebook is getting increasing scrutiny on spreading hate speech in many parts of the world.

When Abiy engages in promotion of hate, it's multiplier effect is so high, it leads to an atmosphere of ethnic cleansing and even genocide.

The level of consciousness of society (including educated folks like Berhanu Nega) is so low, what a PM says could be considered by many as the last word in the bible. So this is terrifying to Facebook as there already is connection between the hate speech on the platform and atrocities on the ground.

Facebook is protecting it self against legal liability when deciding to censor Abiy.