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14 M. SCHISSLER Figure 4. Circa 2017. Source: Graphika 2020, 32. impact assessment commissioned by Meta concluded that it was having a “negative impact” on freedom of expression. “Facebook … is being used by bad actors to spread hate speech, incite violence, and coordinate harm,” BSR wrote. “This is resulting in increased levels of self-censorship, especially among vulnerable groups such as political activists, human rights defenders, women, and minorities.”68 Such analyses highlighted 68 BSR, Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar, 24.

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Beyond Hate Speech and Misinformation: Facebook and the Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar

Investigation / Case Study

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Language

English

Topic

Disinformation
Hate Speech
Information Operation
Rohingya Crisis

Author(s)

Taylor & Francis

Date Published: Aug 1, 2024

Abstract: The case of the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar has increasingly come to illustrate the maximum evil of Facebook and its parent company, Meta. Yet most analyses of this case share a distinctive feature that radically narrows the scope of the problem: the focus is only on content that negatively characterizes the Rohingya, whether through hate speech, misinformation, or other efforts to construct them in ways that may be used to justify genocide. Such content is an important matter of concern. It warrants action, independent of causal effect. But the question of what conduct and content on Facebook may help cause violence must include analysis of a broader potential range that extends beyond characterizations of the victims. To specify some of this range, the article turns to scholarship from the field of genocide studies. In particular, it looks to the process of “in-group policing,” which involves constructing not just victims of genocide but also those who are supposed to support it. The bulk of the article then analyzes in-group policing in Myanmar and on Facebook, by offering new interpretations of publicly available evidence and drawing on observations from work in Myanmar during the five years before large-scale military attacks on the Rohingya in 2016–17. The article concludes by discussing the implications of its findings for ongoing efforts to pursue restitution and accountability for the Rohingya genocide, and proposing concrete questions with broad relevance for scholars and practitioners.

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Beyond Hate Speech and Misinformation Facebook and the Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar.pdf
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Myanmar Internet Project

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Beyond Hate Speech and Misinformation: Facebook and the Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar

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