Paris (AFP)

The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced on Tuesday the filing of a complaint in France against Facebook for "deceptive commercial practices", arguing that the "massive proliferation" of hate messages and other false information on the social network violates the commitments of the platform to Internet users.

This complaint was filed Monday with the public prosecutor of Paris, said RSF in a statement.

It is based, according to the organization for the defense of press freedom, on "the manifest contradiction between the commitments of the social network vis-à-vis consumers and the reality of its operation".

The complaint, consulted by AFP, targets the subsidiaries Facebook France and Facebook Ireland, through which the group operates in France.

RSF intends to demonstrate that the commitments of the American group, appearing in particular in its general conditions of use, "are largely based on false allegations": while the platform undertakes to act to maintain "a safe and error-free environment", he association points to multiple types of hateful content and other fake news that thrive on the network.

Among the evidence provided by RSF in support of its complaint are death threats against Charlie Hebdo journalists or the posting of videos such as the documentary "Hold Up" accused of relaying conspiratorial theses.

For the NGO, this constitutes, within the meaning of the French consumer code, a "deceptive commercial practice", an offense punishable by a fine "which can reach 10% of the average annual turnover".

RSF adds that "Facebook's terms of service being the same everywhere on the planet, a court ruling in France on their misleading nature could have a global impact", and says it is also studying "the filing of similar complaints in others. country".

Asked by AFP, Facebook did not comment on this announcement.

However, several leaders of the group have publicly recalled in recent weeks the multiple efforts made by the network to fight against online violence and disinformation.

Like Guy Rosen, vice-president in charge of the integrity of the group's platforms, who assured Monday, a few days before an important parliamentary hearing in the United States: "we have every reason to We are motivated to keep misinformation at bay from our apps and we have taken many steps to achieve this, at the expense of growing user numbers. "

“Despite all these efforts, some believe that we have a financial interest in tolerating disinformation,” but “the opposite is true,” he said.

“There are still 2.8 billion people who use Facebook and we know how critical it is that people have access to reference information and that we remove harmful content. important social responsibility but also of a commercial imperative ", assured also Anton'Maria Battesti, public affairs manager of Facebook France, during a round table organized by the network.

Several complaints have been launched in recent months against social networks in France.

In early March, fourteen feminist activists took Facebook to court, accusing its Instagram subsidiary of censoring some of their posts, while letting users harass them with impunity.

The competitor Twitter is also the subject of several procedures, including one initiated by victims of terrorism and targets of cyberstalking, who accuse him of not helping the courts to identify their stalkers, and one emanating from four associations which accuse him of to fail in its obligations of moderation.

© 2021 AFP