A Syrian refugee in Germany is suing Facebook after a picture he took with German Chancellor Angela Merkel was repeatedly used in hoax news reports that accused him of being a terrorist.

According to The New York Times, 19-year-old Anas Modamani is suing the social media platform in Wurzburg, Germany, to block the use of the 2015 selfie on the site.

The picture was reportedly used in posts to falsely connect him to terrorist attacks in Brussels and Berlin.

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Facebook is arguing that the users who are posting the image should be held responsible, not the platform itself.

"We are committed to meeting our obligations under German law in relation to content which is shared by people on our platform," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

"We have already quickly disabled access to content that has been accurately reported to us by Mr. Modamani's legal representatives, so we do not believe that legal action here is necessary or that it is the most effective way to resolve the situation."