FRENCH MUSLIM GROUP SUES FB, YOUTUBE OVER NZ LIVE-STREAM

PARIS/WELLINGTON: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.

NZ PM WANTS INTEL ROLE PROBED

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday ordered an independent judicial inquiry into whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the Christchurch attacks.

Ardern said a royal commission was needed to find out how a single gunman was able to kill 50 people in an attack that shocked the world.