5/25/22, 3:47 PM Has Facebook censored Myanmar’s commander-in-chief? | Frontier Myanmar appears that Facebook concurs, which is why it immediately deleted 18 accounts and 52 pages just minutes after the launch of the UN report. Facebook is not a country and arguably therefore does not have a direct obligation under international law to delete incitement. Facebook does have its Community Standards Support independent journalism in Myanmar Sign up to be a Frontier member. that it claims to enforce. However, the more existential concern to the company is that any country in which Facebook is based, such as the United States, has a legal obligation to hold Facebook liable and prosecute it if unlawful speech is not deleted. This obligation is clearly far more pressing if it concerns incitement to genocide. Given the speed with which Facebook acted, they were evidently prepared for the UN report to castigate them and had decided that the best course of action was to remove the content in question. The UN report would be a significant source of evidence if proceedings were launched against Facebook, and its lawyers were likely warning of this legal risk – not to mention the risk of global news headlines yet again denouncing the company and its CEO, Mr Mark Zuckerberg. But in accepting the UN report’s implied allegation that certain posts were unlawful, was Facebook’s decision to take down entire accounts and pages – rather than individual posts containing unlawful speech – a proportionate response? This is important because a disproportionate response would mean that Facebook’s reaction was a violation of military leaders’ right to freedom of expression. Many free speech activists in Myanmar believe that Facebook’s reaction was a violation. Facebook is such an important public space in the modern world, especially in Myanmar, that a complete ban on people would always be disproportionate. Furthermore, Myanmar’s public have a right to know what senior military leaders think, given how powerful they are in the country. However, while this argument would be a powerful one in most countries, it is less so in Myanmar. Why? Because Myanmar’s military owns several television stations and newspapers. Establishing whether a person still has the ability and opportunity to express themselves is an important factor in assessing whether a violation of the right to freedom of expression has occurred. In this case, Facebook’s decision will in effect hinder but not prevent senior military leaders from communicating with the public while they have a range of other channels through which to do so. It will also not stop members of the public hearing from them. Whether or not Facebook’s reaction was proportionate will become clearer in September after the publication of the UN’s full report and the evidence within. It would also be very useful if Facebook could similarly publish any examples of incitement, so that the Myanmar public could understand their decision too. Hopefully, Facebook’s ban on the Myanmar military won’t overshadow who is really being silenced – critical voices and independent media, exemplified by jailed Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo. More stories https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/has-facebook-censored-myanmars-commander-in-chief/ 2/5