• Burmese
Sunday, June 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Editorial

Facebook Slow to React to Violence, Hate Speech in Myanmar

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
April 20, 2018
in Editorial
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees joint hearing regarding the company’s use and protection of user data, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. / Reuters

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees joint hearing regarding the company’s use and protection of user data, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. / Reuters

15.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When mass killings or religious strife take place in Myanmar, the conflict spreads to social media, leading to yet more slaughter on the ground.

There is no doubt that the next major conflict in Myanmar will start on social media or in cyberspace. But who will take the blame, and how can the problem be resolved?

Facebook has definitely played a role in Myanmar’s ethnic and racial conflicts, especially in northern Rakhine State. Who will stop those who abuse and misuse the platform is an open question, and there is no clear answer.

RelatedPosts

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

Nowhere Are the Threats Facing Journalism More Real Than in Myanmar

May 3, 2025
747
From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

From Resistance to Survival: Myanmar’s Free Press Battles US Aid Cuts

April 28, 2025
1.2k
We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

We Need Your Support—Your $5 Helps Keep The Irrawaddy’s Mission Alive

March 27, 2025
604

Recently, Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, told reporters that social media had played a “determining role” in Myanmar.

“It has…substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media,” he said.

A few weeks ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was asked about his company’s role in the Rakhine crisis during an appearance before a US Senate panel.

“What’s happening in Myanmar is a terrible tragedy, and we need to do more,” he replied.

Facebook is now hiring “dozens” more Burmese-language content reviewers to look for hate speech. It is also working with civil society to identify “specific hate figures” who should be banned, and with product teams to come up with new technical solutions to the problem. A number of civic organizations and human rights groups in Myanmar shared a detailed presentation with US lawmakers on how the social media platform helped spread hate speech in the country. But those trying to tackle the problem face a number of major challenges.

In Myanmar there is an ongoing battle between two fonts: Zawgyi and Unicode. A post written on Facebook in Burmese will almost certainly be written in Zawgyi.

Some smartphones manufacturers such as Samsung use both fonts due to market demand. It is no doubt a nightmare for developers and Facebook reviewers to reconcile this.

Unicode should be the official font, yet Zawgyi remains dominant among internet users. As long as this is not reconciled, it will remain an issue for Myanmar, whose people are rapidly adopting Facebook, smartphones and the internet. Will the government have to intervene?

Second, during Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before US lawmakers, there was no intelligent Q & A about allegations that Myanmar army officers trained by Russia were involved in spreading the rumors, hate speech and fake news. Nor were there any questions about terrorists and campaign groups that sided with ARSA to spread fake videos and news.

Indeed, regarding Russia and Myanmar, military relations between Moscow and Naypyitaw have gone from strength to strength for the past several years. More than 4,000 Myanmar officers studied in Russia between 1993 and 2013, more than from any other Southeast Asian country. They studied aviation, nuclear technology and cyber warfare.

About 600 military personnel from Myanmar are studying at Russia’s higher military education institutions right now.

Cyber warfare is not new in Myanmar.

In the past, two leading media websites operating in self-exile came under attack several times. A three-year investigation by Swedish cyber security firm Unleash Research Labs identified the army as a key player in a string of attacks against the websites of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and The Irrawaddy dating back to 2012.

Exiled media outlets covering Myanmar are no strangers to cyber attacks. Coordinated assaults on DVB and The Irrawaddy have taken place during most major political events, including the general election in November 2010. The military was also found to be behind a series of cyber attacks on pro-democracy media outlets around the time of the historic 2015 elections and was reported to have ties to hackers who targeted websites belonging to the Thai government.

When violence erupted in northern Rakhine State last year, The Irrawaddy found more than a dozen identical fake social media pages with thousands of followers. Facebook took the pages down, but only weeks after being notified.

Since Myanmar started opening up in 2011, many citizens have become glued to social media. U Ye Htut, the minister of information under the previous government, was known as the “Minister of Facebook” because of the considerable time he spent on the platform sharing news and comments and attacking the administration’s critics. Many government officials with accounts have used them to spread hate speech and violent threats.

Well-connected tycoons and other well-known individuals have also set up several social media teams to attack opponents and rivals or spread false news and rumors to counter bad press.

Ultranationalist monk U Wirathu used his Facebook page to launch attacks on Muslims and incite hate. The page was allowed to keep running for months, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers. Where were Facebook’s monitors then?

The Myanmar military’s psychological warfare department is believed to have hundreds of trained officers running multiple Facebook accounts posting sexy pictures and using female names to attract followers and then spread fake news whenever the country faces a racial or religious crisis.

Likewise, people and groups sympathetic to ARSA, terrorists, ethnic armed groups and nationalist extremists have also produced and shared fake news and inflammatory cartoons to incite more violence or gain international support.

The extensive misuse of social media platforms has been happening for years, but counteraction has been slow in coming. Facebook can no longer turn a blind eye to the misuse of its own network. Otherwise, it will be accused of being complicit in Myanmar’s ongoing crisis.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Media
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America
World

Elon Musk Calls for Closure of Radio Free Europe, Voice of America

by Naung Naung
February 10, 2025
7.1k

The billionaire’s call to shut down the US-funded media organizations, which reach hundreds of millions of people globally, follows his...

Read moreDetails
Illustration entitled ‘Rebellious Reporters’ by Harn Lay for The Irrawaddy.
Specials

Our Fight For Press Freedom

by The Irrawaddy
May 3, 2024
103.4k

To mark World Press Freedom Day, The Irrawaddy presents a compendium of its articles on press freedom and the repression...

Read moreDetails
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rages Against E. Timor President After Defection Call

by The Irrawaddy
December 14, 2023
5.2k

The regime’s newspapers were filled with tirades against José Ramos-Horta after he urged junta troops to defect, and its backers...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Football Field Dreams Amid Battlefield Disasters; Regime Propaganda’s Parallel Reality; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 20, 2024
4.5k

Also this week, China appeased after Taiwan election, forced recruitment as resistance threatens to decouple main cities, power plea for...

Read moreDetails
Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar
Guest Column

Reclaiming Autonomy: Challenging the Narrative of Fragmentation in Myanmar

by Zung Ring
June 18, 2024
2.6k

The media’s increasing obsession with ‘national disintegration’ is playing into the junta’s hands and threatening progress toward peaceful federalism.

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Propaganda Boosted to Drown Out Military Defeats; Drone Phobia Grips Regime; and More

by The Irrawaddy
November 25, 2023
2.3k

Also over the past seven days, Min Aung Hlaing failed to boost morale in battered army, while the junta tried...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko (left). / Zaw Aye Mg / Facebook

Who is Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko?

Food and Drug Administration director-general Dr. Than Htut. / FDA

Anti-Corruption Commission Files Case Against FDA Chief

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

2 days ago
1.1k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

4 days ago
1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

    Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Sagaing Region Braced for Myanmar Junta Airstrikes After Jet Crash

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Sagaing Protesters Condemn Civilian Govt Toll Charges

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.