1. Introduction
This specific instance outlines breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
by Meta Platform, Inc., (hereafter “Facebook”) that contributed to the commission of
widespread atrocities and human rights violations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that resulted in
the displacement of approximately 750,000 Rohingya into Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh in 2017.
The specific instance is directed at the Irish NCP against Facebook for the actions of its Irish
subsidiary ‘Facebook Ireland Limited’, which is responsible for Facebook’s global operations
outside of the United States and Canada, and where policies related to their Myanmar
operations are made and implemented.
As is well-documented by numerous human rights bodies, including the United Nations
Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar (“IIFFMM”), military operations
conducted by the Burmese military in 2017 forcibly displaced 750,000 Rohingya into
neighbouring Bangladesh, and were accompanied by numerous other egregious human rights
abuses. The military used Facebook to incite violence, which resulted in numerous human
rights violations suffered by the Rohingya, including: the right to be free from torture and
inhumane and degrading treatment, and their rights to life, housing, food and education as
guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”). The IIFFMM concluded
that Facebook’s role in spreading the hate speech that fuelled the violence in Rakhine state in
2017 was ‘significant.’ Facebook itself acknowledged that it did not do enough to prevent its
platform from being used to incite violence.
Despite Facebook’s acknowledgment that it did not do enough the prevent the violence, it has
never provided any form of remediation to the Rohingya victims for the human rights violations
to which it contributed. Representatives of the Rohingya community, including individuals
within the sixteen people submitting this complaint, have made modest requests for Facebook
to fund education facilities in Cox’s Bazar, which Facebook has rejected. In the latest
communication, and after Rohingya communities spent three-months developing a proposal,
Facebook responded that they do not directly engage in ‘philanthropic activities’ and that while
it does partner on some initiatives, these ‘generally have to have a more direct link to
[Facebook’s] products, internet literacy or digital empowerment.’ The Complainants reject the
notion that Facebook providing educational facilities amounts to ‘philanthropic activity’ but is
rather a remedy which is owed by Facebook to the Rohingya as provided for under the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs”) and the OECD
Guidelines.
As an organisation that qualifies as a multinational enterprise under the OECD Guidelines,
Facebook should be held to the standards of the OECD Guidelines. The Complainants submit
that Facebook is in breach of the Guidelines because it: 1) failed to conduct adequate due
diligence for its business operations in Myanmar; 2) contributed to human rights violations
suffered by the Rohingya in 2017 through its acts and omissions; 3) did not have a policy
commitment to respect internationally recognised human rights as at 2017, and has since issued
one that is inadequate; and 4) failed to provide a remedy despite contributing to the human
rights violations in question.
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