Facebook hit with lawsuit for allegedly 'promoting extremist content' within far-right 'boogaloo' groups tied to the murder of a federal officer

Facebook is accused of inciting violent behavior and hate crimes again.
The sister of a federal officer who was murdered during the racial justice protests of 2020 has sued Facebook's parent company for allegedly promoting extremists that contributed to her brother's death.
On May 29, 2020 in Oakland, California, a van pulled up and opened fire on a couple of people, killing one of them and wounding the other. The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis set off a series of protests across the country over racial justice and police use of force.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court, it was claimed that the social media platform connected individuals who planned to engage in acts of violence against federal law enforcement officers.
She calls out Facebook for failing to properly regulate online communities like the far-right "boogaloo" groups, an anti-government movement centered on starting a race war and which has ties to suspected shooter, Steven Carrillo.
Jacobs said that Facebook bears responsibility for his brother's murder. It's time for Facebook to be held responsible for the harm it's done to my family and so many other people.
Kevin McAlister, Facebook's policy communications manager, told Insider that the claims are without legal basis.
More than 1,000 militarized social movements have been banned from our platform, and we work closely with experts to address the broader issue of internet radicalization.
The company has been under scrutiny for its alleged role in inciting violent attacks, including the Capitol riot on January 6. Facebook has rejected claims that it has done too little to limit the spread of misinformation.

The Network Contagion Research Institute, an organization that monitors online extremism, first noticed the possibility of an attack like the one against Underwood more than three months before his murder, according to The Guardian.

Several instances of Facebook groups centered around the concept of a race war were flagged by the researchers. While Facebook promised to remove content that violated its policies against fomenting hate crimes or violence, it never banned the groups or removed many of them.