April 2020]
THE "WEAPONIZATION" OF FACEBOOK
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too have demanded their companies uphold human rights efforts by organizing
campaigns internally.227 A group of Google engineers began their own internal
investigation into Project Dragonfly, Google’s censored search engine for
China.228 In an open letter to Google, these employees objected to this project,
opposing “technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable,
wherever they may be.”229 This July, Google’s Vice President of Public Policy,
Karan Bhatia, confirmed that Google abandoned work on Project Dragonfly.230
The growing concerns regarding the weaponization of Facebook reflect the
need for social media corporations to commit to investigating human rights
violations. While Facebook cannot be completely responsible for the part it
played in human rights violations against the Rohingya, it nevertheless remains
unaccountable for its slow and ineffective response. Facebook must begin
incorporating support for human rights into its business strategy as suggested in
the BSR Report.231
Notably, the BSR Report highlighted the role of local civil society
organizations and stakeholders.232 While corporate criminal complicity places
responsibility on companies, they can rely on third parties to both notify them
of potential human rights abuses on a timely basis and can hire audit companies
more proactively. Civil society organizations played a significant role in the
Myanmar crisis by directly notifying Facebook about certain violations and
misuse of its platform.233 So far, Facebook has made positive steps towards
addressing human rights abuses on its platform by joining the Global Network
Initiative,234 a “multi-stakeholder platform” comprised of technology
companies, human rights organizations, academics, and investors.235 The
company also conducts comprehensive audits through third party, civil society
organizations. If the goal is to deter social media corporations from aiding and
abetting human rights violations, these additional forms of responsibility may
be effective in helping them avoid corporate criminal complicity.
227. See Coulman, supra note 224.
228. We Are Google Employees. Google Must Drop Dragonfly., MEDIUM (Nov. 27, 2019),
https://medium.com/@googlersagainstdragonfly/we-are-google-employees-google-must-drop-dragonfly4c8a30c5e5eb.
229. Id.
230. Jeb Su, Confirmed: Google Terminated Project Dragonfly, Its Censored Chinese Search Engine,
FORBES (July 19, 2019, 4:31 AM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2019/07/19/confirmed-googleterminated-project-dragonfly-its-censored-chinese-search-engine/#73aeac1b7e84.
231. See Warofka, supra note 178.
232. BUS. SOC. RESP., supra note 210, at 28–29.
233. See Stecklow, supra note 145.
234. Protecting and Advancing Freedom of Expression and Privacy in the ICT Sector, GLOBAL NETWORK
INITIATIVE, https://globalnetworkinitiative.org/ (last visited Mar. 20, 2020).
235. About GNI, GLOBAL NETWORK INITIATIVE, https://globalnetworkinitiative.org/about-gni/ (last visited
Mar. 20, 2020).