Muslim Advocates yesterday filed a lawsuit against Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Sherrill Sandberg, the company's second official, demanding that they start taking anti-Muslim activity seriously.

The organization’s account tweeted on the Twitter platform saying, "We have filed a lawsuit against Facebook. Facebook has promised to remove hateful content that violates its rules, but they don't do that, and they lie to Congress and you too."

🚹 BREAKING: We just sued Facebook.

Facebook promises to remove hateful content that violates their rules, but doesn't.

They lie to Congress and to you.

Enough is enough.

Learn more & take action: https://t.co/j7ZLRzlild pic.twitter.com/ZnfkxAIX6O

- Muslim Advocates (@MuslimAdvocates) April 8, 2021

In its lawsuit, the organization stated that, over a period of 8 years, Facebook reported dozens of cases and examples of promoting intolerance and hatred against Muslims through the Facebook platform.

Since 2013, officials from the organization have met with senior Facebook officials, including Zuckerberg, to "educate them about the dangers of allowing anti-Muslim content spreading on their platform," the lawsuit says.

Facebook has not kept its promises, and the organization also accuses Facebook of disinformation as the company is pushed into believing it is doing what it can to combat anti-Muslim intolerance on the world's largest social network.

"What we say in the lawsuit on Facebook is that he should do one of two things: stop lying, or have their actions match their statements," said Mary Power, the organization’s lawyer, in an interview with National Radio.

Academic certificates

The lawsuit cites research by Megan Square, an academic at Ayalon University, which found that anti-Muslim bias serves as a "common denominator among hate groups around the world" on Facebook.

Square warned Facebook in mid-2018 that there were more than two hundred anti-Muslim groups on its platform, and according to the suit, half of them are still active.

Before the end of 2019, Muslim Advocates provided Facebook with a list of 26 anti-Muslim hate groups, 19 of whom are still active today, according to the suit.

These include groups with clear names such as "the anti-Islam movement, the worldwide purification, Islam is pure evil."

Qasim Rashid, an American Muslim lawyer who specializes in human rights issues, tweeted, “I received a death threat on Facebook and Instagram where an extremist threatened to kill me and my children. I complained to Facebook and mentioned what happened. Facebook, and we ask them to take responsibility. "

I received a death threat on Facebook / Instagram where an extremist threatened to kill me & my children.

I reported it & Facebook said it did NOT violate their community standards😳

Glad @MuslimAdvocates is suing Facebook.

We demand accountability.https: //t.co/TMSIuKQ6XQ

- Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Qasim Rashid (@QasimRashid) April 8, 2021

A Facebook spokesperson said the company does not allow anti-Muslim hatred on the platform. “We do not allow hate speech on Facebook and we work regularly with experts, non-profits and stakeholders to help make sure Facebook is a safe place for everyone, while recognizing that anti-Muslim rhetoric can It takes different forms. "

Facebook is using artificial intelligence techniques to remove hate speech.

Lawyers for the organization are demanding that the court pay Facebook to publish "corrective advertisements" about its content monitoring practices through the platform, and to pay financial compensation.

Anti-Muslim activities

The lawsuit referred to a gathering of Islam haters in front of a Wisconsin mosque in August 2020, where some anti-Islam activists gathered and repeated hateful words and insults against Muslims, and the event was broadcast live on Facebook.

The video was removed a few days later, after the organization alerted Facebook about the nature of the content.

It is worth noting that the mass shooting incident inside my mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand, which killed 51 Muslims, was broadcast live by the killer on Facebook.

During his presidential campaign, President Joe Biden sent a video message to America's Muslims at an event arranged by the Muslim Advocates organization, in which he said, "As president, I will work with you to extract the poison of hate from our society, honor your contributions and search for your ideas."

On the other hand, the number of Muslims in the United States is not known with certainty, as US laws prohibit the collection of religious affiliation information in its official general census.

But experts' estimates indicate that the percentage of Muslims is between 1% and 2% of the total population of the United States of 330 million people, that is, an estimated 3.3 million and 6.6 million people, and Muslims are spread in all states.