Greta Thunberg hits out at ‘very disturbing’ Facebook over ‘lies and hate’

Greta Thunberg hit out at Facebook for ‘not taking responsibility’ for a number of ‘very upsetting’ conspiracy theories being spread about her on the social media site.

The Swedish climate activist, 16, who inspired the global school climate strike movement, said she is questioning whether to continue using the social network as a result.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks over unreliable information being shared on the site and for its political adverts.

Sharing a video of an exchange between Mr Zuckerberg and American politicians in Congress, Greta said there were ‘constant lies and conspiracy theories’ about her on the platform, which she said would result in ‘hate, death threats and ultimately violence’.

The environmentalist, who recently criticised world leaders in a speech at the UN, has been heavily trolled online and accused of ‘catastrophising’.

Earlier this month, a psychologist told Metro.co.uk that adults aim vile abuse at the teenager for a number of reasons, including being told things they do not want to hear.

But now Greta, who has become a global sensation for her climate activism, is calling on the tech giant to take action on trolling and fake news – saying it could be ‘easily’ stopped ‘if Facebook wanted to’.

In a post on the site she wrote: ‘I am, like many others, questioning whether I should keep using Facebook or not. Allowing hate speech, the lack of fact checking and of course the issues of interfering with democracy…are among many, many other things that are very upsetting.

‘The constant lies and conspiracy theories about me and countless of others of course result in hate, death threats and ultimately violence. This could easily be stopped if Facebook wanted to.’

Greta, who staged her 62nd Friday school strike earlier this week, continued: ‘I find the lack of taking responsibility very disturbing.

‘But I’m sure that if they are challenged and if enough of us demand change – then change will come.’

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, in a New York Times article earlier this week, Mr Zuckerberg wrote: ‘Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen how the news has held Facebook accountable when we’ve made mistakes.

‘This can be uncomfortable, but as I often tell Facebook’s employees, this kind of scrutiny is important: Facebook is part of so many people’s lives, and we have a responsibility to engage with good-faith criticism and use it to get better.’