Facebook announced on Thursday that it is removing all remaining Myanmar military and military-controlled pages from its site and from Instagram, which it also owns.
It said it will also block ads from military-related companies.
The decision follows a February 1 coup that saw the military remove elected leaders from power and imprison others. Days after the coup, the military temporarily blocked access to Facebook because it was used to share comments about the coup and stage protests.
Here’s a look at Facebook’s role in Myanmar and what the ban on its military pages means.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF FACEBOOK IN MYANMAR?
Myanmar was one of the least connected countries in the world for decades, according to the International Telecommunication Union. In 2012, less than 5% of the population used the internet. When telecommunications began to be deregulated by a quasi-civilian government in 2013, the price of mobile phone SIM cards plummeted, opening a new market for users.
Facebook quickly took advantage of the changes and was soon used by both government agencies and retailers to communicate.
Myanmar, also referred to as Burma, had more than 22.3 million Facebook users, more than 40% of the population, in January 2020, according to social media management platform NapoleonCat. For many in the country, Facebook is basically the Internet.
“Facebook’s role is essential 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 the people.”
WHAT ISSUES DOES FACEBOOK HAVE IN MYANMAR?
The social media platform has been accused of not doing enough to quell hate speech in the country.
In a 2018 report on military-led violence that forced more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, Marzuki Darusman, head of the UN fact-finding mission to Myanmar, said Facebook has “contributed substantially to the level of bitterness and disagreement and conflict. ”He added,“ Incitement to hatred is certainly part of that. ”
Under pressure from the UN and international human rights organizations, Facebook banned about 20 military-related individuals and organizations in Myanmar in 2018, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, for involvement in serious human rights violations.
WHY BANNES FACEBOOK NOW MORE MILITARY LINKED PAGES?
Following the coup, Facebook said it would reduce the distribution of all Myanmar military content, dubbed the Tatmadaw, on its site, while also removing content that violates community norms, including hate speech.
Facebook announced on Thursday that it will ban all remaining Myanmar military entities from Facebook and Instagram, as well as ads from military-related companies.
“Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have accelerated the need for this ban. We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw on Facebook and Instagram are too great, ”the company said in a statement.
The ban applies to the Air Force, Navy, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior and Department of Border Affairs, said Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Facebook’s policy communications manager.
Facebook said it will leave pages that contribute to the common good, including those of the Department of Health and Sports and the Department of Education.
WHAT IMPACT DOES IT HAVE?
The decision robs the military of its largest communications platform.
“This is a welcome and much anticipated move from Facebook,” Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said in an emailed statement. “In a country where Facebook is so incredibly popular, it’s a psychological blow to the military. They put a lot of resources into using Facebook for propaganda purposes, to recruit soldiers and raise money. “
Facebook said it expects the military to try to get back on the platform.
“In cases like this we are working to be as accurate as possible, but we know we will miss some and will continue to refine our enforcement,” said Lefevre.
Facebook declined to say how much revenue it expected to forgo the loss of ads from military-related companies.
The Associated Press’s Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Department. The AP is solely responsible for all content.