Each of the Rohingya refugees interviewed by Amnesty International cited a severe deterioration in intercommunal relations from 2012 onwards. Though the Rohingya faced systemic discrimination at the hands of the Myanmar authorities for many decades prior to 2012, they nonetheless reported co-existing relatively harmoniously with other ethnic groups in Rakhine state. Mohamed Ayas, a Rohingya schoolteacher, recalled this marked deterioration to Amnesty International: “We used to live together peacefully alongside the other ethnic groups in Myanmar. Their intentions were good to the Rohingya, but the government was against us. The public used to follow their religious leaders, so when the religious leaders and government started spreading hate speech on Facebook, the minds of the people changed.”109 The growth and formalization of radical Buddhist nationalist groups coincided with Meta’s rise in Myanmar, and these groups – most infamously Ma Ba Tha – were among the most prominent Facebook users in Myanmar from 2015 onwards.110 In 2013, U Wirathu, a widely known monk affiliated with Ma Ba Tha, told Time magazine: “[Muslims] are breeding so fast, and they are stealing our women, raping them…They would like to occupy our country, but I won’t let them. We must keep Myanmar Buddhist.”111 Ma Ba Tha monks recognized the opportunity for the Facebook platform to take their anti-Muslim campaign to the next level. In a 2016 interview, U Wirathu told Buzzfeed that, “If the internet had not come to [Myanmar], not many people would know my opinion and messages like now,” adding that he had always written books and delivered sermons but that the “internet is a faster way to spread the messages”. 112 Serious violence again erupted in July 2014 in Mandalay (the “Mandalay riots”) after a rumour was spread online which alleged that two Muslim tea shop owners had raped a Buddhist girl in their employment. The allegations, which later transpired to be false, were shared by U Wirathu on his Facebook page with the comment, “Mafia flame (of the Muslims) is spreading” and that “all Burmans must be ready”. Four days of violence ensued, resulting in two people killed and at least 14 reported to have been injured. 113 Acknowledging the role played by Facebook in fuelling the violence and “instigation”, the Myanmar authorities responded by blocking access to the platform in Mandalay.114 According to a report by Wired, the Myanmar authorities made repeated attempts at contacting Meta staff in order to seek their support in addressing the crisis in Mandalay, and only resorted to blocking Facebook when their efforts at getting in touch failed.115 Amnesty International wrote to Meta in May 2022 and asked what steps, if any, the company took after Myanmar authorities blocked the Facebook platform in Mandalay in July 2014, and whether the company assessed the ways in which the platform might be used to amplify advocacy of hatred. Meta responded that “Meta’s investments in Myanmar in response to the events in 2017 have been significant”, but that the company could not provide information concerning the period leading up to 2017 because the company is “currently engaged in litigation proceedings in relation to related matters”.116 5.2 ANTI-ROHINGYA “HATE SPEECH” ON FACEBOOK There are countless examples of anti-Rohingya content shared on Facebook in advance of and during the 2017 atrocities in Northern Rakhine State. This section provides an overview of the extent and nature of this content on the Facebook platform, including examples. Rohingya survivors of the 2017 atrocities interviewed by Amnesty International told the organization that Facebook was rife with dehumanizing, derogatory, and hateful anti-Rohingya content, much of which likely 109 Amnesty International interview by video call with Mohamed Showife, 12 April 2022. 110 Victoire Rio, “The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar”, 2020. 111 TIME, “The Face of Buddhist Terror”, 1 July 2013, content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2146000,00.html Buzzfeed News, ”This is what happens when millions of people suddenly get the internet”, 20 November 2016, buzzfeednews.com/article/sheerafrenkel/fake-news-spreads-trump-around-the-world, cited in Victoire Rio, “The Role of Social Media in Fomenting Violence: Myanmar”. 112 The Diplomat, “The meaning of the Mandalay Riots in Myanmar”, 12 July 2014, thediplomat.com/2014/07/the-meaning-of-themandalay-riots-in-myanmar 113 The Diplomat, ”The meaning of the Mandalay riots in Myanmar”, 12 July 2014, thediplomat.com/2014/07/the-meaning-of-themandalay-riots-in-myanmar ; https://burma.irrawaddy.com/opinion/2014/07/04/61420.html 114 Wired, ”How Facebook’s rise fueled chaos and confusion in Myanmar”, 6 July, 2018, wired.com/story/how-facebooks-rise-fueled-chaosand-confusion-in-myanmar 115 116 Meta letter to Amnesty International, 31 May 2022 (on file with Amnesty International). THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 27