Meta Platforms—UN found Facebook played a 'determining role' in inciting violence against Rohingya in Myanmar genocide
In September 2018, the UN Fact-Finding Mission reported that Facebook was a 'useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate' in Myanmar and had been 'slow and ineffective' in tackling hatred against Rohingya. Hundreds of military personnel used fake accounts to flood Facebook with anti-Rohingya content. Facebook had only two Burmese-speaking content reviewers for 18 million active Myanmar users. Facebook's own 2018 human rights assessment concluded it was not doing enough to prevent incitement to violence.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content Moderation | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Misinformation | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.492 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
UN Fact-Finding Mission reported Facebook was 'useful instrument' for hate speech in Myanmar genocide
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found in September 2018 that Facebook played a 'determining role' in the Rohingya genocide, calling it a 'useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate.' The report noted Facebook was 'slow and ineffective' in addressing content inciting violence.