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Agence France-Presse

Facebook has blacklisted four more of Myanmar’s ethnic rebel groups, the platform announced Tuesday as it struggles to control rampant hate speech, misinformation and incitement on its platform.
For years the social media giant has been lambasted for its slow and ineffectual response to incendiary posts, particularly against the country’s Rohingya Muslims.
The company has embarked on a huge PR campaign over the last year to prove it is taking action in a country with an estimated 20 million Facebook accounts.
The latest rebel organisations to have been banned are the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Taaung National Liberation Army (TNLA).
Can Myanmar find internal peace with its ethnic rebels? Aung San Suu Kyi is on it
“These armed groups are now banned from Facebook and all related praise, support and representation will be removed as soon as we become aware of it,” Facebook’s news page said.
“There is clear evidence that these organisations have been responsible for attacks against civilians and have engaged in violence in Myanmar, and we want to prevent them from using our services to further inflame tensions on the ground.”


Hardline nationalist monks and even top military generals – who UN investigators say should face prosecution for genocide for their crackdown against the Rohingya – were kicked off the site last year.
Hundreds of pages and accounts with hidden links to the armed forces were also removed in December.
Likewise, the Rohingya militant group, whose August 2017 attacks were used by the military as a justification for its brutal campaign, is already blacklisted.
The newest rebel groups to be kicked off the site are among some two dozen ethnic armed organisations fighting decades-old conflicts over autonomy, identity, territory and natural resources.
Can’t go forward, can’t go back: uncertain future for Myanmar refugees stuck in a Thai camp for decades
Since 2016, the four have clubbed together in an alliance, refusing to enter bilateral peace talks with the government.
In December, the military announced a temporary ceasefire in the troubled northeast of the country but has continued to pound AA rebels in Myanmar’s beleaguered Rakhine state in violence that has seen several thousand displaced.
Facebook told AFP that the government had flagged up content posted by the rebel groups several times but said the decision to blacklist them had been internal.


The platform has tried to repair its battered reputation, improving the speed with which hate speech is taken down and boosting the number of Myanmar-language reviewers.
Myanmar’s parliament may amend constitution, challenging military
It confirmed it now employs more than 100 staff who speak Myanmar – including some who can also review content in Shan and Chin languages.
Critics say, however, that the number is still insufficient to monitor the volume of accounts in the country, many in a patchwork of regional languages.
After decades of isolating military rule, most people in Myanmar have only came online in the last few years as the country opened up and smartphone usage soared.


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Facebook

Four more Myanmar ethnic rebel groups banned from Facebook over hate speech

A file photo of soldiers from the Taaung National Liberation Army. Photo: AFP

Can Myanmar find internal peace with its ethnic rebels? Aung San Suu Kyi is on it

A Myanmar border guard watches the ‘no-man’s-land’ zone between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Rakhine State. Photo: EPA

Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw (2R) and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (R) greet ethnic rebel leaders during a signing ceremony for a ceasefire agreement with two armed ethnic groups, the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), in the capital Naypyidaw on February 13, 2018. - Two armed ethnic groups signed a ceasefire in Myanmar on February 13 in a move which the government hopes will revive a flagging peace process dogged by continuing fighting and widespread distrust of the army. (Photo by Thet AUNG / AFP)

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the joint news conference of the Japan-Mekong Summit Meeting at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan October 9, 2018. Franck Robichon/Pool via Reuters

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 19, 2018 shows Myanmar's commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, attending a ceremony marking Myanmar independence hero General Aung San and eight others assassinated in 1947, during the 71st anniversary of Martyrs' Day in Yangon. - Myanmar's army chief said on September 23, the United Nations had no right to interfere in the sovereignty of the country a week after UN investigators called on him and other top generals to be prosecuted for "genocide" against the Rohingya minority. (Photo by YE AUNG THU / AFP)

Refugees flee fighting in Myanmar. Photo: AFP

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie calls for ‘commitment’ to end anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar

epa07345100 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) special envoy, US actress, film-maker Angelina Jolie (C) arrives for a press conference after her visit to Kutupalong camp for Rohingya refugees in Teknuf, Cox's bazar in Bangladesh, 05 February 2019. According to the local media Angelina Jolie is in Bangladesh on a three-day visit to assess the humanitarian needs and some of the more critical challenges the country is facing as a host. EPA-EFE/SUMAN PAUL

epa07345120 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) special envoy, US actress, film-maker Angelina Jolie (C) waves at Rohingya people after her visit to Kutupalong camp for Rohingya refugees in Teknuf, Cox's bazar in Bangladesh, 05 February 2019. According to the local media Angelina Jolie is in Bangladesh on a three-day visit to assess the humanitarian needs and some of the more critical challenges the country is facing as a host. EPA-EFE/SUMAN PAUL

Angelina Jolie speaks after her visit to Kutupalong camp in Teknuf. Photo: EPA

UN expert urges caution on Bangladesh’s Rohingya island ‘relocation’ plan

Yanghee Lee, a United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, visited an island off Bangladesh this week where Dhaka aims to move Rohingya refugees despite worries it will be vulnerable to extreme weather. Photo: AFP

Yanghee Lee, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, holds a news conference after visiting Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. (AP Photo)

UN chief slams Myanmar as ‘too slow’ in allowing Rohingya to return

An August, 2018 photo of a Myanmar border guard by the fence in the ‘no man’s land’ between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 24, 2018 Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border as seen from Maungdaw, Rakhine state during a government-organized visit for journalists on August 24, 2018. - Panic is gripping thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees living in no-man's land on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, with daily clashes between Myanmar security forces and ethnic Rakhine insurgents. (Photo by Phyo Hein KYAW / AFP)

(190118) -- UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18, 2019 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, on Jan. 18, 2019. Guterres on Friday strongly condemned the car bombing at a police academy in the Colombian capital of Bogota, which caused heavy casualties. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Myanmar rejects appeals of Reuters journalists jailed over Rohingya investigation

Journalist Wa Lone after being sentenced to jail. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this combination file image made from two photos, Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo, left, and Wa Lone, are handcuffed as they are escorted by police out of the court in Yangon, Myanmar Sept. 3, 2018. A court in Myanmar on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 rejected the appeal of two Reuters journalists convicted of violating the country's Official Secrets Act during their reporting on the country's crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, and maintained the seven-year prison terms they were sentenced to last year. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw, File)

Pan Ei Mon (L) and Chit Su Win wives of jailed Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo talks to media after their appeal was rejected by court in Yangon, Myanmar, January 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang

epa07274593 Lawyers of jailed Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo leave a court in Yangon, Myanmar, 11 January 2019. A court rejected the Reuters journalists' appeal of the district court's decision on 03 September 2018, which sentenced both Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years in prison after they were found guilty of violating a state secrets act. EPA-EFE/NYEIN CHAN NAING

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Asia

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The latest rebel organisations to have been banned include the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Kachin Independence Army


The latest rebel organisations to have been banned are the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Kachin Independence Army and Taaung National Liberation Army.


Myanmar

Social media

Rohingya Muslims

Aung San Suu Kyi

Four more Myanmar ethnic rebel groups banned from Facebook over hate speech

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}The latest rebel organisations to have been banned include the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Kachin Independence Army

The latest rebel organisations to have been banned include the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Kachin Independence Army