Facebook bans over 20 organizations and individuals affiliated with the Myanmar militia for spreading “hate and misinformation” across the social network.
Those banned from using the service include Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, as well as a military television network.
Facebook Bans Mayanmar Officials
For many years now, there has been an ethnic cleansing campaign by the Buddhist majority against the Muslim Rohingya, which is tearing Myanmar apart. Facebook’s platform was used to spread false information and incite violence against the oppressed minority.
Today, the social giant admitted it was “too slow” to act to prevent postings that encouraged genocide on its site, but states that it is now “making progress — with better technology to identify hate speech, improved reporting tools, and more people to review content.”
United Nations Investigation
Facebook implemented the bans only a few hours after the United Nations released a report that “found evidence that many of these individuals and organizations committed or enabled serious human rights abuses in the country.”
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The UN called for military leaders in Myanmar to be investigated and held accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and it detailed allegations of murder, false imprisonment, and sexual violence against Rohingya Muslims in the country.
In response to the issue Facebook said further:
“We want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions.”
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
Facebook maintains that many people in Myanmar still use the network for communication and news and not for harassment and guerrilla activities. To further implement its position against the genocide, it also removed 46 pages and 12 accounts for trying to push the messages of the military and co-ordinating behaviors. At the time of writing FB stock is up 1.53%.
Featured Image: Wired/Mark Zuckerberg
