10 Dictating the Internet: and freedom from political manipulation in order to effectively operate. These include the role of social media in spreading unprotected hate speech, particularly that which incites violence, manipulation of elections and other democratic processes through the spread of disinformation, and a new generation of security concerns associated with cyberspace. In Myanmar, the proliferation of hate speech on social media platforms has contributed to discrimination and violence against ethnic and religious minorities. In 2018, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found that “extreme violence” against and “marginalizing and othering” of the Rohingya minority group had been facilitated by “concerted hate campaigns with the involvement of and condoning by State authorities”, which had been “greatly facilitated by social media platforms.”11 Similarly, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar warned that Facebook had “turned into a beast”, enabling the proliferation of incitement to violence and hatred on its platform.12 In the same year, a Reuters report found that language barriers and insufficient resources and attention dedicated by Facebook to address these barriers had made this proliferation possible, and that Facebook was not the only social media platform facing these challenges.13 Hate speech is a pressing concern for which both legal and technical responses need to be developed. Unfortunately, as set out in this report, efforts that have been introduced by the governments to date seem more tailored to suppressing free expression that is politically unwelcome than countering attacks and incitement against minorities. In Indonesia, the spread of disinformation online before and during elections has threatened to delegitimize the election process and exacerbate 11 12 13 Statement of Mr. Marzuki Darusman, Chairperson of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar to the General Assembly, Third Committee, 23 October 2018. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=23800&LangID=E; Darusman further stated that Facebook “substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict… within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that.” See Tom Miles, ‘U.N. investigators cite Facebook role in Myanmar crisis’, Reuters,13 March 2018, Available at: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-facebook/u-n-investigators-citefacebook-role-in-myanmar-crisis-idUKKCN1GO2PN BBC, ‘UN: Facebook has turned into a beast in Myanmar’, 13 March 2018. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43385677; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, 5 March 2019, A/HRC/40/68, paras 54, 55; Notably, incitement to violence and hatred on Facebook targeting Rohingya Muslims who had sought refuge in India was also a “big problem” outside of Myanmar. See Vindu Goel, Shaikh Azizur Rahman, ‘When Rohingya Refugees Fled to India, Hate on Facebook Followed’, New York Times, 14 June 2019, Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/ technology/facebook-hate-speech-rohingya-india.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_ MBAE_p_20190616&section=whatElse?campaign_id=7&instance_id=10252&segment_ id=14352&user_id=3f72f2845ba8594bb0e4459957511f9b&regi_id=87913927ion=whatElse Steve Stecklow, ‘Inside Facebook’s Myanmar operation: Hatebook - A Reuters Special Report’ Reuters, 15 August 2018, Available at: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ myanmar-facebook-hate/