Late on Monday night, Facebook released a report it had commissioned from an outside body that said the social network may hold some responsibility for the incitement of violence in Myanmar.
In the Human Rights Impact Assessment: Facebook in Myanmar, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), the non-profit that produced the report, found that Facebook’s platforms (including WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram) were used to incite violence against the Rohingya people living there; violence that has been described by the UN as “ethnic cleansing”. The report states that “Facebook has become a means for those seeking to spread hate and cause harm [in Myanmar], and posts have been linked to offline violence”. BSR also deemed “it noteworthy” that Facebook is still the first point of call for most activists organising peaceful protests. However, this was just one line in the 62-page report.
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