5/22/22, 8:16 PM Is Facebook responsible for Myanmar’s anti-Rohingya violence? | Coconuts Facebook to spread misinformation and vitriol about the Rohingya as a people to audiences of millions. A December 2016 Facebook post by Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, used this image to refute Rohingya women’s accusations of rape committed by security forces. It has since been removed, but it remains on the State Counsellor Office website. So, does Facebook’s usefulness to Myanmar’s leaders mean the company is to blame for its clients’ violence against the Rohingya? Human rights advocates say: “Not exactly.” Does the company have a role to play in ending the violence? “Absolutely.” “The entry of Facebook into Myanmar, coming after literally decades of military censorship and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, has been a double-edged sword,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “The positive side is people can speak their minds, corruption and rights abuses are exposed quicker, and information about daily events inside and outside of Myanmar can go straight to users, bypassing filters and controls, presumably resulting in a better-informed citizenry. “The problem is that Facebook has also become hi-jacked by some for use as platform for spreading ethnic and religious stereotypes, stoking hatreds, and instigating violence – and this is where Facebook is falling down, by failing to do the levels of hands-on monitoring they need to do. Facebook can’t be an absentee landlord when some of the denizens have gas and a match and are prepared to burn the place down.” https://coconuts.co/yangon/features/facebook-responsible-myanmars-violence-against-rohingya/ 3/11