Cuba Threatens to Sue Facebook Over Political Manipulation

By Staff, Agencies

The Cuban foreign minister threatened on Wednesday to take legal action against Facebook, alleging that the social media network ignored groups trying to manipulate public opinion on the island.

Bruno Rodriguez said that the digital platform hosted groups of people residing outside Cuba, specifically in the US, who altered algorithms and geotags to simulate their large presence in Cuba to influence opinions and destabilize the Cuban society.

"As has already happened in other parts of the world, Facebook can be sued for these practices against Cuba in strict adherence to the law," Rodriguez told foreign diplomats accredited to Havana.

The minister accused the US-based social media company of fostering an atmosphere of hatred, discrimination and racial intolerance that undermined the Caribbean island's right for self-determination.

This summer, Cuba has seen the largest protests since 1994, sparked by anger over shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities, given the fact that the island nation has been under a US embargo for almost 60 years, which has prevented the arrival of humanitarian aid in the island nation during the pandemic.

President Biden, despite Cuba’s dire economic situation, has so far refused to remove any sanctions that were imposed by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. On June 23, the United States voted against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning the embargo on Cuba that was adopted by the overwhelming majority of 184 other nations.