Myanmar
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Rohingya refugees sue Facebook for $150 billion over Myanmar genocide
Rohingya refugees are suing Facebook parent company Meta for its alleged role in Myanmar's genocide against the ethnic minority.
Facebook's Oversight Board orders a post criticizing the Myanmar coup to be restored
Content reviewers mistakenly thought the post criticized Chinese people, rather than the state.
TikTok bans some Myanmar accounts to limit the reach of violent videos
TikTok is banning accounts from Myanmar that post violent videos, but it comes long after other sites took action.
YouTube removes five TV channels run by Myanmar's military
Dozens of protesters were killed this week during anti-coup demonstrations.
Facebook and Instagram ban Myanmar's military
'We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw on Facebook and Instagram are too great.'
Facebook removes Myanmar military's main page
Facebook has removed the Myanmar military's main page amid protests in the country, including recent deaths.
Facebook is limiting Myanmar military's reach on its platform
Facebook has detailed how it’s handling the political situation Myanmar in a new post, where it has revealed that it’s limiting the distribution of all content posted by the country’s military.
Myanmar shuts down internet to stifle anti-coup protests
Myanmar has shut down much of its internet access to curb anti-coup protests, and services like Instagram and Twitter have been blocked.
Facebook has been temporarily blocked in Myanmar
Local telecom operators in Myanmar have started to temporarily block Facebook following an order from the country’s military government.
Facebook bans account of TV network associated with Myanmar military
In the aftermath of Monday’s coup in Myanmar, Facebook has banned the account of a prominent TV station associated with the country’s military.
Facebook says glitch led to rude translation of Chinese leader's name
Facebook is learning first-hand about the limitations of modern translation technology. The social media firm has apologized after people discovered that that translating Chinese President Xi Jinping's name from Burmese to English led to him being called "Mr. Shithole" -- no, we're not kidding. The company blamed a "technical issue" for the flaw. It didn't have Xi Jinping's name in its Burmese database and made a wild stab at the translation, where it clearly fell apart. Other words starting with "xi" or "shi" also led to "shithole" translations.
Facebook bans four groups spreading violence in Myanmar
Facebook announced today that it has removed four groups based in Myanmar that it has determined to be dangerous from its platform. The Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Kachin Independence Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army have been removed from Facebook, and the company said all "praise, support and representation" for the organizations will also be subject to removal.
Facebook bans hundreds more pages relating to Myanmar conflict
Just a week after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted he "doesn't know enough" about the political situation in Myanmar, following his series of tone-deaf tweets applauding the country, Facebook has taken further action to stymy the calls to violence made on its platform. The network has now banned an additional 425 pages, 17 groups, 135 Facebook accounts and 15 Instagram accounts, adding to takedowns made in August and October.
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey: ‘I don’t know enough’ about Myanmar
Twitter chief Jack Dorsey came under fire earlier this week when he posted a series of tone deaf tweets celebrating his recent birthday retreat in Myanmar, a country ravaged by political violence and whose government is accused of widespread genocide and ethnic cleansing. Now, he's responded to criticism of his tweets -- where he encouraged people to visit Myanmar to experience the people who were "full of joy" -- claiming that he didn't mean to undermine the "human rights atrocities and suffering" in the country.
Twitter's Jack Dorsey promotes Myanmar despite genocide reports
Unfortunately, social network leaders still appear to be tone deaf regarding Myanmar's reported atrocities. Twitter chief Jack Dorsey posted a series of tweets encouraging followers to visit Myanmar after he'd been there for a birthday meditation retreat, seemingly ignoring widespread evidence of the country's government committing genocide against the Rohingya people and forcing hundreds of thousands of them to flee. He focused solely on his trip, noting that the "people are full of joy" and celebrating the experience of listening to a Kendrick Lamar album after breaking silence.
Facebook’s cluelessness helped amplify Myanmar tensions
As the United States goes to the polls for the 2018 midterms, Facebook's influence is once again under scrutiny. The social network has published a report it commissioned in August from Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). The San Francisco–based nonprofit was tasked with investigating Facebook's role in enabling political violence in Myanmar. Essentially, the report says that while it wasn't the root cause, Facebook amplified calls to violence.
Fake news is down on Facebook in the US and France, say three studies
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have not had a great year. From being called in front of Congress to getting lashed by the media for its appalling handling of user data, the pressure has been on the social media site to get things right. Even calls for Zuckerberg to be kicked out as chairman are starting to percolate. But Zuckerberg might be able to breath a little easier today as three new independent studies show that fake news overall is going down on the website he launched from his dorm room.
Facebook bans Myanmar military officials following damning UN report
Facebook is taking action to halt the spread of hate speech and misinformation in Myanmar, banning Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the Myawady military TV network and other people and groups. It said that international experts, working with the UN Human Rights Council, "found evidence that many of these individuals and organizations committed or enabled serious human rights abuses in the country." In total, it removed 18 Facebook accounts, 52 pages and one Instagram account.
Facebook is investigating its role in Myanmar violence
Facebook has hired an outside company to look into its role in spreading hate speech and enabling ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, Vice News reports. The human rights audit is being conducted by San Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility and was reportedly launched in recent months. A Facebook source confirmed the audit to Vice News.
Facebook's Free Basics quietly pulled from Myanmar, other markets
Facebook's controversial Free Basics service quietly disappeared from several markets over the past few months, according to The Outline. One of those countries is Myanmar, where it was accused of supporting ethnic cleansing and where it became the target of criticisms for the way it handled a chain letter that caused widespread panic. The letter warned Buddhists that Rohingya Muslims were going to attack them, while Rohingya Muslims were told to be prepared for violence from militant Buddhist groups. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg used the incident as an example of the social network's effectiveness in tackling hate speech to the consternation of Myanmar activists who said they had to repeatedly flag the letter to get the company to act on it.
