5/25/22, 3:47 PM Has Facebook censored Myanmar’s commander-in-chief? | Frontier Myanmar ISSUES SIGN UP NOW Has Facebook censored Myanmar’s commander-in-chief? AUGUST 29, 2018    Some say Facebook has overreached, but it’s debateable whether rights to expression and information are being violated. By OLIVER SPENCER and YIN YADANAR THEIN | FRONTIER ON AUGUST 27, minutes after a United Nations Fact-Finding Mission accused Myanmar of genocide, Facebook banned 20 military-linked individuals and organisations from its platform, including the commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Debate on Facebook’s decision immediately proliferated online: was Facebook’s decision censorship? The accusation of genocide comes from a new UN report which says that there is enough evidence to prosecute Myanmar’s senior military leaders under international humanitarian law, and points to specific Facebook posts as evidence of an intention to commit genocide. The UN report also says that the government and military have “fostered a climate” online facilitating incitement to discrimination and violence in which “Facebook has been a useful instrument” for spreading hatred. It said the “Myanmar authorities” had been “promoting … hate narratives” which were used for “explicit calls for patriotic action”. The right to freedom of expression is not absolute and there are several forms of unlawful speech. Incitement to genocide is the most significant form of unlawful speech and was prohibited under an international genocide treaty that Myanmar ratified in 1956. Incitement to discrimination and violence are prohibited, too. The question of whether senior military leaders have themselves committed acts of incitement requires a detailed study into their Facebook posts and the context in which they were made. The UN uses a six-part test to define incitement and authors of the UN report say there is ample evidence that will be given to the UN Security Council in September to back up each of its allegations. It https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/has-facebook-censored-myanmars-commander-in-chief/ 1/5