Legal Framework: An International Human Rights Approach to Addressing Hate Speech and Protecting Free Expression in Myanmar and the company announced it was taking corrective actions.747 Facebook states that what is and is not allowed on their platform will be guided by international human rights principles, including the UDHR, ICCPR and as members of the Global Network Initiative’s (GNI) Principles on Freedom of Ex- pression and Privacy; Facebook has further stated that it is committed to “engage governments and international institutions to promote the rule of law and the adoption of laws, policies and practices that protect, respect and fulfil freedom of expression and privacy.”748 In addition to increasing Myanmar content reviewers, the company states that it has “improved proactive detection of hate speech” in Myanmar, and are “taking more aggressive action on networks of accounts,” and “extended the use of artificial intelligence to posts that contain graphic violence and comments that are violent and dehumanizing.”749 Only time will tell as to whether such measures prove to be effective at curbing hate speech. The lead up to the 2020 elections is a potential flashpoint for further incitement and offline violence.750 Regardless, Facebook should apply the UN Guiding Principles and integrate human rights into their platform and comply with the Special Rapporteur David Kaye’s recommendation ensuring that it: (a) conduct periodic reviews of the impact of the company products on human rights; (b) avoid adverse human rights impacts and prevent or mitigate those that arise; (c) implement due diligence processes to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights and have a process for remediating harm.751 They should hold meaningful and substantial consultations on regular basis, seeking input and recommendations from CSOs and HRDs on the way forward, con- tribute to in-country digital literacy efforts, and be vocal in their zero tolerance for incitement and users violating their community standards. Only with such actions will corporations better ensure the promoting and protection of human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar, rather than contributing to their violation as they did in the past. 747 748 749 750 751 Alex Warofka, “Response: An Independent Assessment of the Human Rights Impact of Facebook in Myanmar,” Facebook, November 5, 2008, https://about.fb.com/news/2018/11/myanmar-hria/ Ibid.; See also Global Network Initiative [GNI], GNI Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy (updated 2017), https://globalnetworkinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GNI-Principles-on-Freedom-of-Expression-and-Privacy.pdf. Ibid. Hunter Marston, “The Hate Speech Threat to the 2020 Election,” Frontier Myanmar, April 6, 2019, https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-hate-speech-threat-to-the-2020-election/. A/74/846, para. 42. 105