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Stringer / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- On February 1, the Myanmar army staged a coup.
- In response to the military coup in Myanmar, Facebook is censoring the accounts of the coup leaders.
- Facebook said the accounts “continued to spread misinformation,” forcing the moderators to act.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
On February 1, on the brink of the inauguration of a newly elected government, the Myanmar military announced a coup.
The basis of the coup, he said, was allegations of widespread electoral fraud in the previous year’s elections. Despite those claims being repeatedly discredited and the election results confirmed, the army-backed Union, Solidarity and Development Party seized power from the government after losing the country’s November elections by an overwhelming majority.
Facebook said it is treating the situation “as an emergency” and is limiting communications from the Myanmar army and the army spokesman, it said this week.
The company said it will “significantly reduce the distribution of all content on Facebook pages and profiles run by the Myanmar Army (” Tatmadaw “) that have continued to spread misinformation.” That includes the army spokesperson and his “information team,” and could apply more broadly, “to any additional pages that the military controls and that repeatedly violate our disinformation policies,” Facebook said.
These pages and profiles will also be excluded from the recommendations.
Facebook has been criticized for being too lax in its restraint efforts with politicians, particularly former President Donald Trump. It was not until the attempted insurrection on January 6 and the subsequent message from Trump that Facebook decided to suspend his account.
In particular, Facebook has prior experience with moderating sensitive users in Myanmar – the service played a role in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim population in the country, Mark Zuckerberg said in 2018.
“One Saturday morning, I got a phone call and we detected that people were trying to spread sensational messages through Facebook Messenger in this case, on each side of the conflict, basically telling Muslims: ‘Hey, there is going to be a uprising of the Buddhists, so make sure you’re armed and go to this place. ‘And then the same on the other side, “Zuckerberg told Vox’s Ezra Klein.
Facebook said it is determined not to let that happen again. “We remain vigilant for emerging trends,” the company said, “and we will not hesitate to take additional action as appropriate.”
