The alarm has already been raised in a number of contexts. Whistle-blower Frances Haugen has repeatedly warned that Meta is repeating its failures in Myanmar in other countries – notably including Ethiopia. Haugen specifically highlighted the Facebook platform’s content-shaping algorithms as the key driver of these risks and harms.365 In India366 and Sri Lanka,367 too, the spread of anti-Muslim hate and violence has been linked to Meta’s content-shaping algorithms. In order for Meta’s remedy to be truly effective, the root cause of its contribution to these human rights harms – Meta’s surveillance-based business model and its related use of engagement-centric algorithms must be addressed as a matter of urgency. This reality entails urgent action by both states and technology companies alike. A central component of the state duty to protect human rights is the obligation to enact and enforce laws and regulations which prevent and punish corporate human rights abuses. States must enact regulations which rein in surveillance-based business models throughout the technology sector, including through effective regulations regarding the use of social media ranking and recommendation algorithms.368 These algorithms should be subject to meaningful and rigorous state oversight which have human rights law and standards at their heart. In order to tackle the root cause of these issues, such regulations must be accompanied by moves to ban tech companies’ invasive tracking practices and surveillance-based advertising.369 While Meta has made some progress in improving its content moderation for Facebook in Myanmar, it is clearer than ever that these improvements are incapable of effectively and adequately preventing and mitigating the harms associated with Meta’s content-shaping algorithms, and the voracious pursuit of personal data which is hardwired into its business model. Meta should nonetheless seek to ensure the adequate resourcing of its content moderation operations in Myanmar and in all countries and languages in which it operates. Emmanuel Akinwotu, Facebook’s role in Myanmar and Ethiopia under new scrutiny, 7 October 2021, The Guardian, theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/07/facebooks-role-in-myanmar-and-ethiopia-under-new-scrutiny 365 See: Billy Perrigo, “Facebook Was Used to Incite Violence in Myanmar. A New Report on Hate Speech Shows It Hasn't Learned Enough Since Then”, 29 October 2019, time.com/5712366/facebook-hate-speech-violence ; 366 Article One, “Assessing the human rights impact of the Facebook platform in Sri Lanka”, 2018, about.fb.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/Sri-Lanka-HRIA-Executive-Summary-v82.pdf 367 368 See: Amnesty International, Surveillance Giants (previously cited). 369 See: Amnesty International, Surveillance Giants (previously cited). THE SOCIAL ATROCITY META AND THE RIGHT TO REMEDY FOR THE ROHINGYA Amnesty International 69