Amare, who was ethnically Tigrayan, had been targeted in a series of Facebook posts the month before, alleging that he had stolen equipment from the university, sold it, and used the proceeds to buy property.Like the radio in Rwanda, Facebook has fanned the flames of war in Ethiopia,” says Rosa Curling, director of Foxglove, a UK-based nonprofit that tackles human rights abuses by global technology giants.“The company has clear tools available—adjust their algorithms to demote viral hate, hire more local staff and ensure they are well-paid, and that their work is safe and fair—to prevent that from continuing.”Since 2020, Ethiopia has been embroiled in civil war.Tekle told reporters during an October press conference: “There’s no innocent party which has not committed human rights violations in this conflict.”In a statement Foxglove shared with WIRED, Tekle spoke of witnessing “firsthand” Facebook’s alleged role in tarnishing research aimed at shining a light on government-sponsored massacres, describing social media platforms perpetuating hate and disinformation as corrosive to the work of human rights defenders.Facebook, which is used by more than 6 million people in Ethiopia, has been a key avenue through which narratives targeting and dehumanizing Tigrayans have spread."