5/23/22, 12:45 AM Facebook bans Northern Alliance armed groups, calls them “dangerous organizations” | Frontier Myanmar ISSUES SIGN UP NOW Facebook bans Northern Alliance armed groups, calls them “dangerous organizations”  FEBRUARY 5, 2019   By CLARE HAMMOND | FRONTIER YANGON — Facebook has designated four ethnic armed groups, the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Kachin Independence Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army, “dangerous organizations” and banned them from its platform. The decision to ban the groups, none of which have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement that underpins the government’s peace process, and which together comprise the Northern Alliance of armed groups based along the border with China, is part of a wider effort by the social media giant to take action against what it calls “violent actors and bad content” on Facebook in Myanmar. “There is clear evidence that the organizations we’re banning today have been responsible for attacks against civilians and have engaged in violence in Myanmar, and we want to prevent them from using our services to further inflame tensions on the ground,” the company said. The announcement coincides with an uptick in violence in northern Rakhine State after the AA attacked police outposts on January 4 in coordinated raids, killing 13 policemen and sparking a crackdown by the Tatmadaw which the United Nations said has displaced at least 5,200 people. The AA was established in Kachin State in 2009 with the support of the KIA and its troops have received training at the KIA headquarters in Laiza, near the Chinese border. As a member of Support independent journalism in Myanmar Sign up to be a Frontier member. the Northern Alliance, it has taken part in attacks on rural security posts and urban centres in northern Shan State since 2016. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/facebook-bans-northern-alliance-armed-groups-calls-them-dangerous-organizations/ 1/5