Facebook announced on Thursday that it would remove all military-controlled Myanmar army pages from its site and Instagram, which it also owns.
He said it will also block the advertising of companies linked to the army.
The decision came after a February 1 coup in which the military ousted elected leaders from power and imprisoned others. Days after the coup, the military temporarily blocked access to Facebook because it was used to share comments against the coup and organize protests.
Here’s a look at the role of Facebook in Myanmar and what it means to ban military pages.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF FACEBOOK IN MYANMAR?
For decades, Myanmar was one of the least connected countries in the world, with less than 5% of the population using the Internet in 2012, according to the International Telecommunication Union. When a quasi-civilian government began deregulating telecommunications in 2013, the price of SIM cards for mobile phones plummeted and opened up a new user market.
Facebook quickly took advantage of the changes and soon began to be used by government agencies and shopkeepers to communicate.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, had more than 22.3 million Facebook users in January 2020, more than 40% of its population, according to social media management platform NapoleonCat. For many in the country, Facebook is indeed the Internet.
“Facebook’s role is vital in the country,” said Nickey Diamond, a Myanmar human rights specialist with the Fortify Rights group. “In Myanmar, Facebook is one of the most important communication platforms for people.”
WHAT IS THE FACEBOOK ISSUED IN MYANMAR?
The social media platform has faced accusations of not doing enough to stifle hate speech in the country.
In a 2018 report on army-led violence that forced more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, Marzuki Darusman, head of the United Nations Research Mission in Myanmar, said that Facebook “contributed substantially to the level of acrony and dissent and conflict.” He added, “Hate speech is certainly a part of that.”
Under pressure from the UN and international human rights groups, Facebook banned in 2018 some 20 people and organizations linked to Myanmar’s army, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, for involvement in serious human rights violations.
WHY NOW IS FACEBOOK BANNING MORE MILITARY LINKED PAGES?
After the coup, Facebook said it would reduce the distribution of all Myanmar army content, called Tatmadaw, instead, while removing content that violates its community standards, including hate speech. .
Facebook announced on Thursday that it will ban all Myanmar military entities related to Facebook and Instagram, as well as ads from companies linked to the army.
“Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated the need for this ban. We believe the risks of allowing Tatmadaw on Facebook and Instagram are too great,” she said. company in a statement.
The ban covers the Air Force, Navy, Ministry of Defense, Interior Ministry and Ministry of Border Affairs, said Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Facebook’s policy communications manager.
Facebook said it will leave pages that contribute to public welfare, including those of the Ministry of Health and Sports and the Ministry of Education.
WHAT IMPACT WILL IT HAVE?
The decision deprives the military of its largest communication platform.
“This is a welcome step and expected by Facebook,” Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said in an emailed statement. “In a country where Facebook has been so incredibly popular, it’s a psychological blow to the military. They have dedicated a lot of resources to using Facebook for propaganda purposes, to recruit soldiers and to raise funds ”.
Facebook said it expects the military to try to regain its presence on the platform.
“In cases like these, we are working to be as accurate as possible, but we know we may lose some and we will continue to refine our application,” Lefevre said.
Facebook declined to say how much revenue it expects to give up on the loss of advertising from military-linked companies.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.