The significance of Instant Articles for the Rohingya lies in its connection to Meta’s content-shaping algorithms. Because financial incentives under Instant Articles were linked to the amount of engagement a piece of published content received, publishers in Myanmar were incentivized to re-publish whatever content received the highest levels of engagement. Victoire Rio told Amnesty International how, in the aftermath of the 2016 attacks and in the lead up to the 2017 atrocities, “there was a proliferation of clickbait websites – many of which were amplifying anti-Rohingya narratives – such as saying that the Rohingya were having an abnormal number of children, Muslims were hiding weapons in mosques, preparing for jihad, etc.”250 The MIT Technology Review echoed Rio’s findings, stating that, because of the launch of Instant Articles, “[c]lickbait actors cropped up in Myanmar overnight. With the right recipe for producing engaging and evocative content, they could generate thousands of US dollars a month in ad revenue, or 10 times the average monthly salary – paid to them directly by Facebook”.251 According to Rio, the multiplication of clickbait and sensational content, which was driven by the roll-out of Meta’s monetization programme, played an important role in shaping public opinion in favour of the “clearance operations” that took place in 2017: “After the [ARSA] attacks, you had the whole machine going into a complete frenzy”. Rio told Amnesty International that her research revealed that these clickbait sites were not necessarily run by politically motivated actors: “Some are business-minded folks – including some pro-NLD”, underlining the Meta-funded financial motivation behind this development.252 The IIFFMM’s final report also noted the role of dubious “self-proclaimed” news pages, with huge numbers of followers and high levels of engagement on Facebook, in spreading anti-Rohingya content that incited violence and discrimination.253 6.4.2 PAID ADVERTISING Before and during the 2017 atrocities in Northern Rakhine State, the Facebook platform was also hosting paid advertising from both the Myanmar military and Ma Ba Tha. A study by Victoire Rio found that ‘both the military and Ma Ba Tha have been found to make use of Facebook’s boosting and ad features’.254 The examples in Rio’s study include paid boosting of the page of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who Amnesty International has accused of crimes against humanity and who regularly used his Facebook page to spread dehumanizing and inciting posts targeting the Rohingya.255 Although Meta banned certain military leaders from the platform in 2018, including Min Aung Hlaing, the company only banned military-linked advertisements in February 2021 following the coup.256 Meta’s content-shaping algorithms were not the only aspects of the company’s business practices to have played a role in the proliferation of hateful and divisive content in Myanmar. As detailed in this section, Meta’s drive to expand its advertising revenues also resulted in the creation of financial incentives for the production of increasingly inflammatory content. This occurred against a backdrop of rising anti-Rohingya sentiment and violence in Myanmar, further adding to the echo chamber of anti-Rohingya hatred which was developing on the Facebook platform. At the same time, Meta directly profited from paid advertising by the very actors which were responsible for the demonization, dehumanization – and ultimately the ethnic cleansing – of the Rohingya. 250 Amnesty International interview by video call with Victoire Rio, 12 April 2022. Karen Hao, ‘How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation’, MIT Technology Review, 20 November 2021, technologyreview.com/2021/11/20/1039076/facebook-google-disinformation-clickbait 251 252 Amnesty International interview by video call with Victoire Rio, 12 April 2022. 253 IIFFMM, “Detailed findings, para 1312, pp.324-325. 254 Victoire Rio, ‘The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar’ (previously cited). 255 See: Section 5.2, above. Sebastian Strangio, “Facebook Bans Myanmar Military-linked Companies From its Platforms”, The Diplomat, 9 December 2021, thediplomat.com/2021/12/facebook-bans-myanmar-military-linked-companies-from-its-platforms 256 THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 49