Facebook deletes main page of Myanmar’s military for inciting violence

BANGKOK: Facebook has deleted the main page of Myanmar’s junta’s True News information service for inciting violence while Secretary-General of the United Nations,Antonio Guterres has added his voice to the chorus of concern.

A spokesperson for the platform said the Tatmadaw True News Information Team page was deleted for “repeated violations of our Community Standards prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm”.

Facebook has banned hundreds of army-linked pages in recent years after being criticised for its unproductive response to hateful posts in the country.

According to the social media giant,  several contents targeted the country’s stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, around 750,000 of whom fled into neighbouring Bangladesh after an army crackdown in 2017.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and other top military leaders were booted from the platform a year later, following a UN investigation that recommended they face a genocide prosecution over the violence.

The platform has also barred rebellious groups battling the military on the country’s frontiers and a hardline Buddhist monks’ group accused of inciting violence against Muslims.

Meanwhile, international condemnation of Myanmar’s military rulers is growing after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters in Mandalay, killing at least two people and hurting several others.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “I condemn the use of deadly violence in Myanmar. The use of lethal force, intimidation and harassment against peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable,” he tweeted.

Guterres further said, “Everyone has the right to peaceful assembly,” he added. “I call on all parties to respect the election results and return to civilian rule,” he added.

I condemn the use of deadly violence in Myanmar.

The use of lethal force, intimidation & harassment against peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable.

Everyone has a right to peaceful assembly. I call on all parties to respect election results and return to civilian rule.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 21, 2021

Members of ethnic minorities, poets, rappers and transport workers marched on Saturday in various places, but tension escalated quickly in Mandalay where police and soldiers fired live rounds at striking workers at Mandalay’s Yadanabon dock. As a result, two protesters killed on the spot.

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s army declared a one-year state of emergency and selected a general as acting president of the country, after apprehending a  civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials.

The military move came after Myanmar’s influential military prompted concern about a coup last week after threatening to “take action” over an alleged scam in a November election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

The military said that the voter lists which were used during the general polls held on the 8th of November were found to have huge discrepancy and the Election Commission failed to resolve the issue. 

Though the autonomy of the nation must derive from the people, there was awful deception in the voter list during the polls which run contrary to ensuring a stable democracy, the military alleged.