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META SUED FOR $1.6 BILLION FOR FUELLING HATE SPEECH IN ETHIOPIA AND KENYA

A lawsuit filed in a Kenyan court on Wednesday accused Meta of fuelling political unrest in Africa, and demanded that the company pay over $2 billion in victims’ funds and make significant improvements to its service. In the lawsuit, Facebook is accused of causing death, displacement of families, vilification of individuals, and destruction of communities in Kenya and across Africa.

Mercy Mutemi, a legal practitioner representing the petitioners, said that the fine would serve as a restitution fund for the victims of violence incited on Facebook. According to her, the lawsuit is targeting Meta “for prioritising hateful speech on its Facebook platform, and for its content moderation decisions or lack of investment in content moderation”.

This is not the first time Facebook has been sued for inciting violence. In 2021, Muslim advocates sued Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former chief operating officer of the company Sheryl Sandberg for Muslim hate speech.

In 2021, Rohingya refugees sued the company for $150 billion over Myanmar hate speech.

With the current Kenyan case, the first petitioner is Abrham Meareg, an Ethiopian academic, whose father was doxxed in a racist attack on Facebook and murdered shortly after. Despite reporting the posts to Facebook, nothing was done to remove the posts.

The second petitioner, Fisseha Tekle, is a former Ethiopian researcher and legal advisor at Amnesty International whose reports of violence during the Ethiopian war made him the target of abuse on Facebook. 

Katiba Institute, the third petitioner, is one of Kenya’s eminent legal organisations set up to defend the Kenyan Constitution. Amnesty International has also joined the petitioners.

KLASHA INTRODUCES MENSTRUAL LEAVE POLICY

Image source: Klasha

San Francisco- and Lagos-based cross-border commerce technology company, Klasha, has actioned a menstrual leave policy for its female employees. For a technology business operating in Nigeria, this is a first.

In addition to the statutory annual and sick leaves to which Klasha employees are already entitled, the policy provides five menstrual leave days for female employees. According to Klasha, as the year goes on, it will evaluate the policy’s effectiveness and modify the number of leave days.

Klasha has made this change in an attempt to empower its female employees who make up to 50% of its permanent team. Klasha also wants to set an example in the fight against societal taboos associated with menstruation and ignorance of the challenges they pose to women.

The nearly three-year-old startup saysthis new menstrual leave policy is a strategic move to attract and retain contented talents who are consequently more productive.

INSIDE EKITI’S PLAN TO BUILD A VIABLE TECH HUB

Image Source: Unsplash

Nigeria’s Ekiti state government, in collaboration with TechCabal Insights and Utiva, held a Demo Day on August 6, 2022 to graduate the inaugural cohort of 50 successful participants of the Ekiti Software Development Programme 1.0 and showcase their projects, following a rigorous four-month learning experience.

The event, which was held at the Ekiti state capital, Ado-Ekiti, was attended by top government officials and key stakeholders from the academia and private sector. Goodwill messages were delivered to the graduating trainees by Akintunde Oyebode, commissioner for finance and economic development; Olu Olatunji, director of ICT, Ekiti State University (EKSU); and Adedamola Ajibade, director general of Ekiti Development and Investment Promotion Agency (EKDIPA).

In his keynote address, Oyebode talked about Ekiti’s knowledge economy and how the software development programme fits into the progress made so far. According to him, developing the state’s tech talent pool is key to growing the economy and at the centre of enabling policies for the availability of investors and jobs.

Zoom out: During the Ekiti Software Development Programme, participants were divided into six groups to work on capstone projects and develop them as tech startups, under the supervision of the tutors.

TELECOMING SIGNS WITH MTN GROUP

Telecoming, an international company specialising in sport and entertainment monetisation technologies, has reached a strategic agreement with MTN Group to monetise its sports offer in 21 countries. This deal opens up a potential market of more than 280 million African users to Telecoming.

The partnership with MTN Group powers the penetration of Telecoming’s digital services business in the region, opening up new opportunities to access countries where it was not yet present. It particularly places Telecoming in an attractive position to its sports partnerswho want to expand across Africa.

This is the second major global agreement that Telecoming has signed with a telco group, following the one reached in 2019. This second deal promises Telecoming surer footing in Africa where it has been operating since 2015.

Hanga Pitchfest is an annual showcase for tech entrepreneurs and creative talents organised by the government of Rwanda, through the ministry of ICT and innovation, the Rwanda Development Board, and UNDP Rwanda. This year’s competition went on for three months.

Speaking about Meta’s approach to curtailing violence on its platforms, the legal action also claims that there is a disparity in Meta’s approach in crisis situations in Africa compared to elsewhere in the world, particularly North America.

Christmas is coming a little earlier this year courtesy of the TechCabal team, and get this; you could get some pretty dope gifts. 

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IN OTHER NEWS FROM TECHCABAL

Meet the companies that SA tech firm Alphawave is making big bets on.

Exin Versa launches Xelar, its digital supply chain management and finance solution.

Interview of Cornelius Ashley-Osuzoka, developer experience lead at Flutterwave.

CBN’s new rules are a copy of India’s cashless economy program from 2016.

Some things to know before founding startups in Africa.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

• Binance – SEO Content Specialist – Lagos, Nigeria

• Klasha – Senior Product Manager, Senior Product Designer – Lagos, Nigeria

• Etap – Growth Associate – Africa (Remote)

• Digital Vision East Africa Limited – Android Developer – Nairobi, Kenya

• Optica Limited – Data Analyst – Nairobi, Kenya

• Habaripay (GTCO) – Front End Developer, UI/UX Designer – Nigeria

• Fooji Inc –Full Stack Developer – (Africa) Remote

• MTN – Senior Manager, Digital Marketing – Nigeria

• Big Cabal Media – Learning & Development Executive, Software Developer, Commercial Director, Sales Associate – Lagos, Nigeria (Hybrid)

• Zikoko –Money Writer, Inside Life Writer, HER Writer, Copy Editor – Remote
• TechCabal – News Editor – Africa 

There are more jobs on TechCabal’s job board. If you have job opportunities to share, submit them at bit.ly/tcxjobs. 

What else is happening in tech?

• Safaricom achieved 93% customer SIM Card registration by the 15th October deadline.

• Kenya’s Mukuru Clean Stoves wins £1 million at the second-annual Earthshot Prize awards

• Hard times at Softcom?

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