Wednesday November 18, 2020
NAIROBI (HOL) - US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has accused the social media giant Facebook of ‘sowing division, hatred and genocide’ in Ethiopia amid an ongoing fighting between the federal forces and those allied to the Tigray administration.
In a letter addressed to the founder and owner of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, the fiery politician has pointed fingers at the social media company for providing fuel to atrocities in Tigray region which has led to the death of hundreds of people.
“When societies become divided to the point of hatred, and when that hatred burns to the point of targeted murder and massacres,” Omar said, “There Facebook is in the centre of it, as the catalyst and the engine of discord.”
The Somali-American politician also lashed out at the Ethiopian government for ‘jailing dissidents’ and ‘threats to bomb civilian areas’ while ‘entering into an all-out war with one of its regions’
Likening Facebook to the infamous Radio Milles Collines known to fan the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Omar called on Zuckerberg to ‘turn it off’.
Communication lines in Tigray region have been cut off by the Ethiopian government but online propaganda and hate speech has been blamed for ongoing flare-up of ethnic fighting in the region.
Meanwhile humanitarian organisations and private companies have reported targeted removal of staff hailing from the Tigray region by government operatives in what could exacerbate an already fragile situation.