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Facebook, YouTube sued for streaming New Zealand mass shooting

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Facebook, YouTube sued for streaming New Zealand mass shooting

A group that represents French Muslims is suing Facebook and YouTube for streaming video of the March 15 shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that left 50 people dead.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) said Monday that the organization launched a formal complaint with prosecutors in Paris against the French offices 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.”

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CFCM President Ahmet Ogras told CNN that the organization is accusing Facebook of not taking down the video quickly enough. Such acts mentioned in the complaint are punishable in France by up to three years in prison and a 75,000 euro ($85,000) fine.

“This [is] not admissible, Facebook must take their part of responsibility in this and must do everything to anticipate these livestreams, as much as [they do with] hate messages and Islamophobia on their networks,” he told CNN.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. YouTube did not directly address the CFCM’s complaint, instead providing an earlier statement about the attack, saying it saw an “unprecedented” volume of attempts to post footage from the shooting and removed tens of thousands of related videos.

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