Let's eliminate hate speech against the LGBTQI+ community in the MENA region!

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The recent suicide of the LGBTQI+ activist Sarah Hegazi in Canada, as a result of hate speech and harassment against her person on social media, has shocked us all. While many of us feel sad and lost, others in the MENA region are filled with hatred and spread their hatred of the LGBTIQ+ community intensively through Facebook.
 

It’s obvious that the so-called Facebook's “standards to combat hate speech against gender minorities and the LGBTQI+ community” are not applied or even denied in the Middle East and North Africa.
 

It is time to acknowledge the impact of the widespread hatred in the MENA region on the mental well being of the LGBTIQ+ community. If the Facebook administration does not take drastic actions against this systematic cyber bullying and abuse of power, we will live to witness the aftershocks of Sarah's suicide happen every day, leaving the community of gender minorities and LGBTQI+ vulnerable and in danger.  

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So together we demand that the Facebook administration strengthen its standards to combat hate speech and discrimination against minorities in the MENA region,  set up a specific training program for its employees in the region, and engage in a public discussion on how to prevent hate speech against LGBTIQ+ community in the region.