4/5/22, 3:25 PM Facebook Admits It Was Used to Incite Violence in Myanmar - The New York Times New problems could also arise related to WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook that is becoming popular in Myanmar. WhatsApp has begun to play a leading role in elections, particularly in developing countries where it is being used by political parties, religious activists and others to spread information. In India’s recent elections, some WhatsApp messages were used to incite tensions while others were found to be false. In Myanmar, the prevalence of hate speech, disinformation and bad actors on Facebook “has had a negative impact on freedom of expression, assembly and association for Myanmar’s most vulnerable users,” the report says. This has led to the suppression of free speech; violence and hate campaigns; and self-censorship by women, minorities and other vulnerable members of society. Myanmar military officials were behind a systematic campaign on Facebook to target a mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, an investigation by The New York Times found. Human rights groups say this campaign has led to murder, rape and forced migration. Facebook took down the official accounts of military leaders in August. But some activists said the company still had not done enough. “I don’t think there will be a significant change,” said Ye Wai Phyo Aung, the founder of Athan, a free-speech organization. Facebook should do more to prevent fake accounts from being created, he said. “It’s still easy to sign up for a Facebook account with fake names,” he said. “The Facebook team should have worked on that.” Not everyone in Myanmar agreed with the blame placed on Facebook. Ye Myat Thu, the managing director of Alpha Computer Mandalay, an information technology firm, said the government needed to take action to enforce better behavior online and prevent violence. “Facebook is just the platform,” he said. “If there is no Facebook, people will use another platform. I see Facebook just as a product.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/technology/myanmar-facebook.html 2/2