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Facebook blacklists Myanmar hardline Buddhist group
YANGON, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Facebook has blacklisted a group of
Myanmar Buddhist hardliners including monks notorious for bilious hate speech
against Rohingya Muslims, the company said Thursday, as it scrambles to show
it is tackling inflammatory content.
The social media company plays an outsized role in a country that has
only recently come online and boasts 18 million accounts among the population
of around 50 million people.
UN investigators have said that Facebook has morphed into a “beast” in
the country and that hate speech and incitement to violence against the
Rohingya are rampant on the site.
Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled a violent army crackdown in Myanmar to
Bangladesh since August last year — after years of increasingly violent and
angry discourse against the minority, much of it playing out on Facebook.
In response, Facebook this week has undertaken its highest-profile visit
yet to Myanmar.
It banned the Buddhist nationalist movement Ma Ba Tha from its platform,
as well as a pair of prominent monks known for stoking hatred towards the
Rohingya.
“They are not allowed a presence on Facebook, and we will remove any
accounts and content which support, praise or represent these individuals or
organisations,” said Content Policy Manager David Caragliano.
Extremist monks Parmaukkha and Thuseitta join their fellow firebrand
clergyman Wirathu on the blacklist, after he was banned in January.
Activists have criticised the platform for responding too slowly to
reports of malicious posts, with some content being shared by users for more
than 48 hours before being removed.
Examples include calls for the killing of a Muslim journalist and posts
last September saying Buddhists and Muslims were each preparing attacks
against the other.
Activists flagged these repeatedly to Facebook but it still took several
days for the platform to act.
“We can do more, and we have been slow to respond,” admitted Facebook
Vice President of Public Policy in Asia-Pacific Simon Milner.
He said Facebook is increasing the number of people working on Myanmar
from Singapore and Bangkok, including those who speak the language, although
declined to give specific numbers.
The platform says it is also stepping up measures to prevent fake
accounts and block repeat offenders while improving systems for users to
report harmful content.
Myanmar activists welcomed the high profile visit but urged the platform
to be more transparent.
“What is the time it takes to remove harmful content? How many people do
we have in the team that speak Myanmar?” tech hub Phandeeya CEO Jes Kaliebe
Petersen asked.
“Users deserve to know.”
Facebook is caught up in a data sharing scandal that also stirred furious
debate on its responsibilities for the content users share including “fake
news” and hate speech.
BSS/AFP/RY/1556 hrs