Facebook has been severely criticized by human rights groups for spreading hate speech in Myanmar American social media giant Facebook said it will begin to remove and subsequently ban companies associated with the Myanmar military from operating on its platform. The move came after a $150 billion class-action lawsuit filed against the company’s parent company Meta Platforms on behalf of Rohingya refugees. The telecom operator Mytel is one of the four telecom operators in Myanmar, partly owned by the military, or Tatmadaw, and its page was one of the first to be deleted. The company stated that it has…
American social media giant Facebook said it will begin to remove and subsequently ban companies associated with the Myanmar military from operating on its platform.This move was made after a class-action lawsuit worth 150 billion U.S. dollars Archive Represented Rohingya refugees against Meta Platforms, the company’s parent company.
The telecom operator Mytel is one of the four telecom operators in Myanmar, partly owned by the military, or Tatmadaw, and its page was one of the first to be deleted. The company said it has taken further action on “hundreds” of other accounts and pages related to companies controlled by the Myanmar military.
The Myanmar Beer page has also been deleted, but several smaller Mytel accounts, such as its customer service page, are still active. Facebook said that all remaining pages will be deleted and the ban will be “continuously enforced.”
Military media pages have been blocked
Earlier this year, Facebook had blocked military companies from advertising and blocked media pages controlled by the military government, including Burmese Army Real News with Myawaddy TV.
Rafael Frankel, Facebook’s policy director for emerging Asia-Pacific countries, said in a statement that the new ban “is based on a large number of documents from the international community that show that these companies are funding the continued violence and human rights violations of the Myanmar army. Played a direct role”. December 7.
Frankel added that the company will use the 2019 United Nations (UN) fact-finding mission report on the economic interests of the Myanmar military to determine the company that should be removed.
The “dirty list” of British human rights organizations on Facebook
The Justice Organization of Myanmar (JFM), a group of activists who oversee the regime’s enterprises and their networks, stated that companies associated with the military government were used to fund military operations. The organization emphasized that Facebook must ensure that the new ban is fully and “proactively” implemented and applies to all military joint ventures with international and domestic companies.
Although removals and bans are welcomed by the international community, some people say that it will take a long time for Facebook to take radical steps.
UN investigators stated as early as 2018 that Facebook played a key role in spreading hate speech that incited violence in Myanmar. Facebook was further included in the “dirty list” of companies supporting military abuse in Myanmar compiled by the British Rights Organization of the Myanmar Movement, which has been calling for the removal of military operations from the platform for many years.
