64 Hate Speech Ignited: Understanding Hate Speech in Myanmar old photos and video content again.378 In Myanmar, most users share posts by copying and pasting the content, rather than by using the “share” function.379 Moreover, while Facebook has not released the underlying data, it has stressed that some of the pages removed in December 2018 were taken down be- cause of their connection to pages that were removed earlier in the year for their military connection.380 Technological Discrepancy The second challenge has been technological discrepancies. Prior to October 2019, Myanmar was the only country in the world that predominantly used Zawgyi as the standard for encoding and dis- playing text, instead of Unicode, the global international text encoding standard.381 The mismatch has created complications on both ends of social media platforms: users of Zawgyi devices have not been able to properly access instructions for reporting hate speech for example, while Facebook has encountered difficulties in deploying automated tools for tracking messages and posts that have been produced with Zawgyi.382 Myanmar has since officially adopted the use of Unicode, and its govern- ment offices, telecommunications companies, banks, and media must now use it as the default for Burmese.383 Facebook has been supporting Myanmar’s transition to Unicode, but the gap has continued to hinder efforts to identify and respond to the spread of hate speech.384 Need for Greater Context Sensitivity The third challenge has been ensuring greater context sensitivity in content moderation. As noted by the FFM, Facebook needs more “content moderators who understand Myanmar language and its nuances, as well as the context within which comments are made.”385 In particular, “[s]ubtleties in the Myanmar language and the use of fables and allegories make some potentially dangerous posts difficult to detect.”386 In the wake of the FFM’s findings, Facebook commissioned a study by Business and Social Responsibility (“BSR”) that provided recommendations for Facebook to address hate speech on their platform. In the report, BSR similarly identified that “there is substantial consensus—among both external stakeholders and Facebook’s own staff—that effective implementation of the Community Standards in Myanmar requires Burmese staff with insight into the local context, such as cultural, political, conflict, ethnic, religious, and language factors.”387 As of November 2018, Facebook employed a team of 99 native Myanmar speakers to review content.388 A few CSO interviewees mentioned concern about content moderators’ own biases and 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 Ibid. BSR, 14. Facebook, “Removing.” Facebook, “Integrating autoconversion: Facebook’s path from Zawgyi to Unicode,” Sep. 26, 2019, https://engineering.fb.com/android/unicode-font-converter/. BSR, 51. Eaint Thet Su, “Zawgyi to Unicode: the big switch,” The Frontier Myanmar, September 28, 2019, https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/zawgyi-to-unicode-the-big-switch. Sara Su, “Update on Myanmar,” Facebook Newsroom, August 15, 2018, https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/ update-on-myanmar/. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, para. 1350. Ibid., para. 1311. BSR, 26. Jon Porter, “Facebook Admits It screwed up on Myanmar — but It Refuses to Take All the Blame,” The Verge, Novem-