Let’s suppress the coup protesters by force
“The danger is growing…focusing on the safety of Myanmar people”
Also banned advertisements related to Myanmar military
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Facebook and Instagram accounts related to the military department of Myanmar were blocked. This is because it caused “very serious human rights violations” by forcefully suppressing the protesters who oppose the coup.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 25th (local time), Rafael Frankel, head of policy for emerging countries in the Asia Pacific region at Facebook, said, “The fatal incident of violence after the coup on the 1st has triggered the need for a (account) ban.” He explained the background of the account blocking measures. In addition, he said, “the risk of allowing the use of Facebook and Instagram to the military department of Myanmar is too great.” Along with this, Facebook and Instagram announced that all advertisements related to the Myanmar military were banned.
The New York Times (NYT) said that Facebook took a tough response after criticism that the Myanmar military has used Facebook to promote propaganda. Previously, Facebook blocked the account by inciting violence against the Facebook account operated by the Myanmar state TV and propaganda media, but this time it has further increased the blocked account. An analysis suggests that Facebook, which has always advocated freedom of expression and was passive in content management, moved first to avoid being criticized anymore. In 2017, the military publicized through Facebook to justify the massacre of the Rohingya, an Islamic minority ethnic group. The following year, the UN reported that Facebook played a key role in the suppression of the Rohingya, but also criticized Facebook for being passive in its response.
Myanmar’s military government took power in a coup on the 1st for the reason that the civil government did not properly investigate, despite the serious irregularities in the general election in November last year. Amidst street protests condemning the coup for 20 consecutive days, three protesters have been killed by military and police shooting so far.
/ Reporter Kwak Yoon-ah [email protected]
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