Army's main channel cut off

The Telegraph india
August 28, 2018


Facebook's announcement on Monday that it was removing accounts connected to Myanmar's military effectively cuts off the armed forces' main channel of communication with the public.

Facebook dominates the social media landscape in Myanmar, where millions of people have come online for the first time since reforms to liberalise the telecoms sector began in 2013. The government uses Facebook to make major announcements, including the resignation of the country's President in March.

Facebook said it had banned 20 individuals and organisations to prevent the spread of "hate and misinformation" after reviewing the content.

The ban included two pages dedicated to the army's commander-in-chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, that have been the military's primary outlet for information, especially around the crisis in the western state of Rakhine last year.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the state for Bangladesh after a security crackdown launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants.

Min Aung Hlaing's pages - one of which was "liked" by 1.3 million people - gave detailed running commentaries of what it said were battles with the militants.

Other posts showed the bespectacled commander in civilian clothing giving alms to monks, or viewing potential weapon purchases abroad. The accounts showed military doctors treating the sick and soldiers performing public works in rural areas.

The military also operates its own newspaper and TV station, but Facebook has allowed it to communicate in real time, even as operations unfolded on the ground. Facebook said the accounts it banned on Monday had 12 million followers. "Facebook has been the key channel enabling the military's communication with the public and this ban will hit their communication ability hard," said Richard Horsey, a Yangon-based independent political analyst and former UN diplomat to the country.

Horsey said Min Aung Hlaing was a politically-savvy operator whom some analysts and diplomats have tipped as a potential candidate at the next election in 2020, when Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy is likely to face opposition from nationalists aligned with the military.

"He has built a significant political profile for himself extending well beyond his narrow military role and has used Facebook to project it onto the public," said Horsey. Reuters was unable to contact Min Aung Hlaing on Monday.

Facebook said it was making progress on preventing "the spread of hate and misinformation". Many of those banned were found by international experts to have committed or enabled human rights abuses, Facebook said. Reuters

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