French Muslim group sues internet giants

PARIS: A French Muslim group on Monday said it was suing Facebook and YouTube for allowing the live broadcast of the grisly video of a massacre at a New Zealand mosque, reviving the debate over how social media amplifies such attacks.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) was taking the legal action against the French branches of the two tech giants for "broadcasting a message with violent content abetting terrorism, or of a nature likely to seriously violate human dignity and liable to be seen by a minor," according to the complaint filed with prosecutors, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

In France such acts can be punished by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros ($85,000). A white supremacist who killed 50 people in attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, live-streamed one of the attacks on Facebook from where it was uploaded to other video sites, including YouTube.

The livestream lasting 17 minutes was shared extensively on a variety of internet platforms and uploaded again nearly as fast as it could be taken down. The CFCM, which represents several million Muslims in France, said it took Facebook 29 minutes from the start of the live broadcast to take the video down.