Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
'Overreacting to failure': Facebook's new Myanmar strategy baffles local activists
Source: The Guardian
'Overreacting to failure': Facebook's new Myanmar strategy baffles local activists
As Facebook tries to address its role in spreading hate speech, human rights experts criticize fresh ban of ethnic armed groups
Julia Carrie Wong
Thu 7 Feb 2019 20.35 GMT
Facebook banned four ethnic armed Myanmar-based groups from its site this week, in its latest effort to reckon with its role in the violence in that nation. But the tech giant’s decision is drawing criticism from local civil society and human rights groups who warn that the move appears ill-considered and inconsistent with international law.
On Tuesday, Facebook announced in a blogpost that it had designated four separatist groups – the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Kachin Independence Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army – as “dangerous organizations”.
That designation, which Facebook applies to “organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence” – ie terrorist groups and criminal cartels – brings with it not just a ban on the group itself, but a ban on “all related praise, support and representation” of the groups, according to the company’s rules.
“There is clear evidence that these organizations have been responsible for attacks against civilians and have engaged in violence in Myanmar, and we want to prevent them from using our services to further inflame tensions on the ground,” Facebook said in explaining the bans. “In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or engage in violence to have a presence on Facebook.”
-snip-
As Facebook tries to address its role in spreading hate speech, human rights experts criticize fresh ban of ethnic armed groups
Julia Carrie Wong
Thu 7 Feb 2019 20.35 GMT
Facebook banned four ethnic armed Myanmar-based groups from its site this week, in its latest effort to reckon with its role in the violence in that nation. But the tech giant’s decision is drawing criticism from local civil society and human rights groups who warn that the move appears ill-considered and inconsistent with international law.
On Tuesday, Facebook announced in a blogpost that it had designated four separatist groups – the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Kachin Independence Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army – as “dangerous organizations”.
That designation, which Facebook applies to “organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence” – ie terrorist groups and criminal cartels – brings with it not just a ban on the group itself, but a ban on “all related praise, support and representation” of the groups, according to the company’s rules.
“There is clear evidence that these organizations have been responsible for attacks against civilians and have engaged in violence in Myanmar, and we want to prevent them from using our services to further inflame tensions on the ground,” Facebook said in explaining the bans. “In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or engage in violence to have a presence on Facebook.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/07/facebook-myanmar-genocide-violence-hate-speech
