BSR | Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar
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Indirect counter-hate speech narrative techniques
recommended by stakeholders and which are proven to
be effective at addressing the root causes of intercommunal conflict also include supporting responsible
journalism, civic and citizenship education, peace and
multicultural education, and the facilitation of interfaith
activities and shared experiences. Stakeholders
emphasized the importance of targeting high-risk
groups and of creating content in minority languages
such as Ta’ang, Karen, Shan, and Mon.
further the activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.”
Continue to invest in partnerships aimed at
improving the capacity of human rights
organizations.
Many human rights defenders and activists have been
victims of cyberattacks, and there is a need to empower
the individuals who assist with the enforcement of
Community Standards with an understanding of
cybersecurity so that they can protect themselves
against attack.
Facebook could provide or fund capacity-building and
skills training for trusted civil society organizations on
how to engage in effective social media campaigns and
how to post content with appropriate content so that it is
not removed. These efforts could also include
cybersecurity and defense against cyberattacks.
Facebook’s leverage to “boost” positive content will be
enhanced if trusted organizations can run more
effective social media campaigns.
Principle 19 of the UNGPs states that “If the business
enterprise has leverage to prevent or mitigate the
adverse impact, it should exercise it. And if it lacks
leverage there may be ways for the enterprise to
increase it. Leverage may be increased by, for
example, offering capacity-building or other incentives
to the related entity, or collaborating with other actors.”
Bring the Facebook Journalism Project and Fact
Checking Initiative to Myanmar.
Facebook can contribute to long-term change by
supporting journalism, news literacy, and transparency
in Myanmar via the Facebook Journalism Project. This
could include activities such as building capacity,
promoting media diversity, and helping to develop
sustainable business models.
Facebook can help address misinformation and
disinformation by bringing the Fact Checking Initiative
to Myanmar. BSR notes that there are currently no
organizations in Myanmar certified against the Poynter
standards. An important role for Facebook could be to
help local organizations achieve certification, such as
through funding, advice, or other assistance, or—short
of certification, which can be challenging—to be more
capable of meeting reliable standards of fact-checking.
Many BSR interviewees in this assessment—both
inside and outside Facebook—emphasized the
opportunity to continue supporting the development of a
thriving news industry in Myanmar and to address
systemic challenges; for example, while Facebook has
enabled the rapid growth of diverse news outlets, few
have yet been able to develop sustainable business
models.
Principle 19 of the UNGPs states that “If the business
enterprise has leverage to prevent or mitigate the
adverse impact, it should exercise it. And if it lacks
leverage there may be ways for the enterprise to
increase it. Leverage may be increased by, for
example, offering capacity-building or other incentives
to the related entity, or collaborating with other actors.”