3/30/22, 11:08 PM Facebook’s role in Myanmar and Ethiopia under new scrutiny | Facebook | The Guardian Facebook This article is more than 5 months old Facebook’s role in Myanmar and Ethiopia under new scrutiny Whistleblower Frances Haugen adds to long-held concerns that social media site is fuelling violence and instability Emmanuel Akinwotu Thu 7 Oct 2021 06.00 BST Whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony to US senators on Tuesday shone a light on violence and instability in Myanmar and Ethiopia in recent years and long-held concerns about links with activity on Facebook. “What we saw in Myanmar and are now seeing in Ethiopia are only the opening chapters of a story so terrifying, no one wants to read the end of it,” Haugen said in her striking testimony. Haugen warned that Facebook was “literally fanning ethnic violence” in places such as Ethiopia because it was not policing its service adequately outside the US. About half of Myanmar’s population of 53 million use Facebook, with many relying on the site as their primary source of news. In June this year, an investigation by the https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/07/facebooks-role-in-myanmar-and-ethiopia-under-new-scrutiny 1/4