BSR | Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar 25 » There are signs that the “surveillance state” may be returning in Myanmar. After years of decay following the demobilization of the security apparatus in 2004, a surveillance state appears to be re-emerging in Myanmar. The government, military, and Buddhist nationalist groups are all demonstrating an increasingly sophisticated targeting of civil society leaders, activists, and human rights groups on the Facebook platform in ways that draw upon improved surveillance capabilities. Evidence supporting this assertion include the planned “Social Media Monitoring Team” within the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the real-life testimony of human rights defenders shared with BSR and elsewhere. For example, several activists shared with BSR stories about harassment by government and government-related proxies that indicate an increasing level of sophistication around surveillance and harassment. While all governments will monitor social media activity in their country to some degree, in Myanmar this is happening without the necessary legal and regulatory safeguards and in a context of conflict and stalled democratic transition. Said one interviewee, “Press freedom is under threat in Myanmar.” » The 2020 elections are likely to present substantially increased human rights risk. The 2020 parliamentary elections are likely to be a flashpoint for hate speech, harassment, misinformation, incitement to violence, and other actions designed to undermine the political process. Today’s challenging circumstances are likely to escalate in the run-up to the election, and Facebook would be well-served by preparing for multiple eventualities now. One interviewee emphasized that “With two years advance notice, it is important that Facebook gets it right during election time.” Another stressed that “Facebook should prepare for massive chaos and manipulation. There is a great risk of increased polarization in 2020, and this will take place on Facebook.” » The future human rights context in Myanmar is highly uncertain. The next decade of social, political, and economic development in Myanmar could take many different directions and result in a multitude of different scenarios. For example: Elections may be smooth or may not be; the military may relinquish power or seek to increase it; legal reform that advances rule of law may be implemented, or today’s legal framework could be retained; and efforts at conflict resolution may succeed or fail. Companies operating in Myanmar are well-advised to understand and prepare for multiple different human rights scenarios that might unfold in the future and consider how their businesses could impact the various outcomes and relevant rightsholders. 5.2 COMMUNITY STANDARDS ENFORCEMENT During BSR’s engagement with rightsholders and stakeholders, there was substantial focus on the Facebook Community Standards and their role in human rights protection. » The implementation of Facebook’s Community Standards presents challenges of a nature and scale never previously addressed by companies or governments. The need for extensive content moderation is inherent in any platform that is built upon user-generated content, and with over 2 billion users, this is a task of immense complexity and intensity for Facebook. This challenge is even more testing in the Myanmar context, where the majority of the population lacks the digital literacy to effectively navigate the complex world of information-sharing online, and where a