APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South African Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has urged Meta to deal with the challenges facing it, especially in the field of misinformation and unfair treatment of African leaders and African content developers on its platforms.
The minister was speaking in Pretoria on Wednesday at a gathering of officials from government and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to thrash out differences on its platforms that are flooded with fake news and misinformation of Africa.
According to the minister, Meta’s platforms displayed a double standard in the way it treated developed and developing countries – starting with Africa’s leaders and Africa’s content developers.
She gave the example of her own president, Cyril Ramaphosa, whom Meta has the disrepute of hosting his fake account on Facebook.
“I’m still yet to explain to my President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa why there is a fake Cyril Ramaphosa account (on Facebook) when he’s the only Cyril Ramaphosa in the world,” she told the gathering.
In addition, the minister called on Meta to pay African content creators the same fees as their counterparts across the globe.
She described the situation as an injustice, adding that she believed these conversations were necessary to build a relationship between the state and Meta.
“The partnership can only be meaningful and work if we play fair with each other and treat each other as equals,” the minister said.
NM/jn/APA