1
erupted the following day [resulting in two deaths]. The rape allegations were false, with the
2
‘victim’ reportedly admitting that she had fabricated the rape allegations.” 95
3
The U.N. Report continued, “[t]here is no doubt that hate speech against Muslims
96.
4
in general, and Rohingya in particular, is extremely widespread in Myanmar…. Given
5
Facebook’s dominance in Myanmar, the Mission paid specific attention to a number of Facebook
6
accounts that appear to be particularly influential….” 96 For example:
7
•
[T]he late U Ko Ni, a well-known Muslim and legal advisor of the
NLD, was frequently targeted on Facebook…. In one post from
March 2016, a photo of U Ko Ni next to president Htin Kyaw was
captioned ‘this [dog] getting his foot in the door in Myanmar
politics is not something we should sit by and watch….’ The
Mission has seen multiple other posts with a similar message and
threats towards U Ko Ni dating from between March and October
2016. On 29 January 2017, U Ko Ni was assassinated….97
•
[I]n January 2017, a self-described pro-Myanmar patriot with more
than 17,000 followers on Facebook posted a graphic video of
police violence against civilians in another country. He captioned
the post as follows: “Watch this video. The kicks and beatings are
very brutal…. [The] disgusting race of [Muslim] terrorists who
sneaked into our country … need to be beaten like that….” One
comment under the post reads: “It is very satisfying to watch
this…. It’s sad that Myanmar security forces are not as skillful in
their beating.” In July 2018, the post had over 23,000 views, 830
reactions and 517 shares.98
•
[O]ne account holder, supposedly a monk, posted a poem with
graphic photos allegedly showing Buddhist Mros killed by the
“Bengali” on 3 August 2017, along with photos of damage to a
pagoda allegedly done by “Bengali”.99 (The Myanmar authorities
refer to the Rohingya as “Bengalis” to suggest that, rather than
being native to Myanmar, they are illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh.100)
•
[O]n 11 February 2018, … Shwewiki.com, a self-proclaimed
“Media/News Company in Yangon” with over 1.3 million
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
95
96
25
26
27
97
98
99
100
28
Id. ¶ 1325.
Id. ¶ 1310.
Id. ¶ 1312.
Id.
Id.
Id. ¶ 460.
CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT
36
Case No. __________________