Web-Desk (March 14, 2018): Facebook is responsible in spreading hate speech against the majority-Muslim Rohingya minority, said the UN human rights experts investigating a genocide in Myanmar.
Yanghee Lee, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar also said that the Rohingya crisis in the Rakhine State “bears the hallmarks of genocide”.
More than 650,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh since a military crackdown last August.
Many have provided harrowing testimonies of executions and rapes by Myanmar forces, but Myanmar’s national security adviser demanded “clear evidence” for the potential acts of genocide.
The chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Marzuki Darusman, told media 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.
“I’m afraid that Facebook has now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended.” he quoted.
In response to that, Facebook said there is “no place for hate speech” on its platform.
“We take this incredibly seriously and have worked with experts in Myanmar for several years to develop safety resources and counter-speech campaigns,” a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.
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