the coup, Amnesty International has documented further war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by the Myanmar military against civilians in Kayin and Kayah States.31 Amnesty International additionally found that during this period the Myanmar security forces violated human rights on a massive scale, including the rights to life and freedom from torture; and the rights to adequate housing and an adequate standard of living, including the right to food; the right to education, particularly for children; and to non-discrimination, which must be fully respected at all times, including during emergencies and situations of armed conflict.32 The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) in March 2017 to investigate and report on the human rights situation in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States. 33 By September 2018, according to the IIFFMM, “[i]n much of northern Rakhine State, every trace of the Rohingya, their life and community as it had existed for decades, was removed”.34 For the Rohingya that remained in Myanmar after the 2017 atrocities, persecution and apartheid remain a daily reality, and justice and accountability seem more distant than ever since the February 2021 military coup.35 The IIFFMM, following its in-depth investigation into the Myanmar military’s ‘clearance operations’ in 2017, considered whether the crime of genocide had been committed against the Rohingya. It found that “the factors allowing the inference of genocidal intent [were] present”.36 The Mission noted: “The actions of those who orchestrated the attacks on the Rohingya read as a veritable check-list [for genocidal intent]: the systematic stripping of human rights, the dehumanizing narratives and rhetoric, the methodical planning, mass killing, mass displacement, mass fear, overwhelming levels of brutality, combined with the physical destruction of the home of the targeted population, in every sense and on every level.”37 In March 2022, the government of the United States declared that a genocide had been perpetrated against the Rohingya during the 2017 atrocities.38 3.3 META’S ENTRY INTO MYANMAR From 1962 to 2011, Myanmar was ruled by a military junta which enforced extreme censorship over all forms of publication. After 2011, however, a nominally civilian government enacted major reforms to the telecommunications sector with a drastic impact on connectivity. In 2011, mobile penetration was estimated at 2% while internet penetration stood at just 0.23% of Myanmar’s population – among the lowest rates in Asia.39 By 2017, mobile penetration had skyrocketed to 93% and internet penetration to 26%.40 Even before internet access became widely available in Myanmar, Facebook was already the dominant platform in the country. In 2011, despite widespread restrictions on internet access, it was estimated that approximately 80% of Myanmar's few internet users had Facebook accounts.41 By 2014, Facebook was estimated to have had hundreds of thousands of users in Myanmar, many of whom were accessing the platform through internet cafes or devices belonging to their friends or family members.42 Prior to 2015, Facebook was only available in Myanmar via an English-language interface, but a specific Myanmar version was launched in 2015.43 Amnesty International, “Bullets rained from the sky: War crimes and displacement in Eastern Myanmar”, 31 May 2022, ASA 16/5629/2022, amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/5629/2022/en 31 32 Amnesty International, “We will destroy everything”, p. 135. The UN Human Rights Council established the IIFFMM in resolution 34/22 in March 2017. UNOHCHR, “Independent International FactFinding Mission on Myanmar”, ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/myanmar-ffm/index 33 Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, ‘Report of the detailed findings of the Independent International FactFinding Mission on Myanmar’ (IIFFMM, Detailed findings), 17 September 2018, A/HRC/39/CRP.2, para. 1439. 34 See: Amnesty International, ‘Myanmar: World must act now to prevent another year of intolerable ‘death and misery’’, 27 January 2022, amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/01/myanmar-coup-one-year-anniversary 35 36 IIFFMM, “Detailed findings��� (previously cited), para. 1441. 37 IIFFMM, “Detailed findings”, para. 1440. Amnesty International, “Myanmar: Momentum for justice as US to label Rohingya crackdown genocide”, 21 March 2022, amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/us-myanmar-rohingya-genocide 38 39 Datareportal, “Digital 2011: Myanmar”. 28 December 2011, datareportal.com/reports/digital-2017-myanmar 40 Datareportal, “Digital 2017: Myanmar” (previously cited). 41 Datareportal, “Digital 2011: Myanmar” (previously cited). Victoire Rio, ‘The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar’, 2020, Toda Peace Institute, Policy Brief No. 78, toda.org/assets/files/resources/policy-briefs/t-pb-78_victoire-rio_role-of-social-media-in-fomenting-violence-myanmar.pdf ; Datareportal, “Digital 2011: Myanmar” (previously cited). 42 43 IIFFMM, “Detailed findings”, para. 1344. THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 16