Facebook deletes the main page of the Myanmar military for “repeated violations of Community Standards prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm”
(Reuters) - Facebook on Sunday deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under it standards prohibiting … Tweets: @haritho , @militarymonitor , @watchingmyanmar , @arvindhickman , @iainlevine , @walone4 , @moui , and @donk_enby Tweets: @haritho : Genuine question: So should this generate discussion about how tech companies have too much power to control the narrative in a country? https://twitter.com/... @militarymonitor : Due to ongoing protest in Myanmar and military violence over civilians, #Facebook has deleted the main page of the Myanmar military prohibiting the incitement of violence. #Myanmarcoup @PravitR @drzarni @JusticeMyanmar https://www.reuters.com/... @watchingmyanmar : “Facebook on Sunday deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under...standards prohibiting the incitement of violence... a day after two protesters were killed when police opened fire at a demonstration against the Feb 1 coup.” | Reuters https://www.reuters.com/... Arvind Hickman / @arvindhickman : Following the last genocide, I'msurprised @Facebook allowed these pages to even exist. Does it only ever react to extreme situations where death occurs? It says it's not a publisher, but clearly it is exercising editorial judgment. https://www.reuters.com/... Iain Levine / @iainlevine : “In line with our global policies, we've removed the Tatmadaw True News Information Team Page from Facebook for repeated violations of our Community Standards prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm” https://twitter.com/... Wa Lone / @walone4 : Facebook in recent years has engaged with civil rights activists and democratic political parties in Myanmar and pushed back against the military after coming under heavy international criticism for failing to contain online hate campaigns. https://www.reuters.com/... @moui : Facebook on Sunday deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under it standards prohibiting the incitement of violence, the company said, a day after two protesters were killed when police opened fire at a demonstration against the Feb 1 coup. https://www.reuters.com/... @donk_enby : “Congratulations”, Facebook, on finally getting around to pressing one button: https://gist.github.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This deletion is the escalation of a three-year arc: Facebook's role as de facto internet in Myanmar left it relying on civil society to police the platform as far back as 2018, when it removed military-linked accounts and pages in the first round of enforcement against Burmese military officials. It then went further than anywhere else by writing country-specific Community Standards for Myanmar ahead of the 2020 election.
First-order effects
- The Tatmadaw loses its primary broadcast channel mid-crackdown — Facebook had already committed after the February 3 coup to removing content praising or supporting the takeover while protecting posts criticizing the military (its coup-era content rules).
Second-order effects
- The junta's communications shift to unmoderated channels and state media, while every other government operating through Facebook now has a precedent that even a ruling military's main page can be deleted under Community Standards.
Third-order effects
- If platform enforcement keeps outpacing international response to the coup, Myanmar becomes the test case for whether a single company's moderation decisions function as de facto statecraft in countries where it is the dominant information infrastructure.
The trend: Facebook is being pushed from passive host to active political actor in markets where its platform functions as national information infrastructure.