According to a recent lawsuit filed against Facebook by the nonprofit group Reporters Without Borders, Facebook has failed to provide a “safe” environment for users despite what its policies say. The case, filed in France, could be the first of many around the world to hold Facebook accountable for its own policies.

To build its case that Facebook is failing to deliver on the promises of its terms and conditions, Reporters Without Borders cited statements from former Facebook employees, the work of fact-checking organizations, and more.

“We expect Facebook to effectively respect the commitments it has made to its consumers, rather than pretending to implement them without this being the case,” the group said.

For its part, Facebook said that it has “zero tolerance” for harmful content, and that it will continue investing in technology to detect and eliminate it despite the uphill battle that effort entails.

“Our enforcement will never be perfect, but while nobody can eliminate misinformation and hate speech from the internet entirely, we continue using research, experts and technologies to tackle them in the most comprehensive and effective way possible,” the company said in a statement.

While Facebook has often faced stronger challenges in the UK than here in the States, this is an encouraging development nonetheless. Hopefully cases like this one can force the company to treat user data more carefully around the world.

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