Facebook Has Turned Into a Beast in Myanmar, UN Says (bbc.com) 96
UN investigators have accused Facebook of playing a "determining role" in stirring up hatred against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. From a report: One of the team probing possible acts of genocide said Facebook had "turned into a beast." About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military launched an operation in August against "insurgents" in Rakhine state. Facebook has said there is "no place for hate speech" on its platform. "We take this incredibly seriously and have worked with experts in Myanmar for several years to develop safety resources and counter-speech campaigns," a Facebook spokeswoman told the BBC.
The UN's Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar announced the interim findings of its investigation on Monday. During a press conference the chairman of the mission, Marzuki Darusman, said that social media had "substantively contributed to the level of acrimony" amongst the wider public, against Rohingya Muslims. "Hate speech is certainly, of course, a part of that," he added.
The UN's Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar announced the interim findings of its investigation on Monday. During a press conference the chairman of the mission, Marzuki Darusman, said that social media had "substantively contributed to the level of acrimony" amongst the wider public, against Rohingya Muslims. "Hate speech is certainly, of course, a part of that," he added.
Re:No that title is just wrong (Score:5, Insightful)
But you have to blame the population and government for these tragedies.
That would mean admitting that the Nobel Peace Prize was given to the wrong person [wikipedia.org].
Here is a complete list of all the things necessary to turn the oppressed into oppressors:
1. Power
Re: (Score:2)
However, if we don't work Facebook into the story, we can't really push forward with censoring the internet so that bad things like this don't happen at home.
Re: (Score:2)
That would mean admitting that the Nobel Peace Prize was given to the wrong person
That's not true at all, from everything I read on the page you linked the prize was not given to the wrong person. She did indeed work very hard for democracy and human rights, in a nonviolent way. As was stated twenty-five years ago when she was awarded the prize.
If the point of your comment was that an abused person is more likely to turn into an abuser when given the opportunity, well that's a well-known phenomenon.
Re: (Score:2)
Here is a complete list of all the things necessary to turn the oppressed into oppressors:
1. Power
That's a complete list only if you assume that all people fall into one of the three categories: assholes, dicks or cunts.
"All people" naturally includes you and your mother as well.
Re: (Score:2)
You do not need them, they are not useful, and they make existing problems worse.
As someone who found two girlfriends and several friends through social media, I strongly disagree. And yes, when I say friends, I am talking about people I meet irl constantly. Social media can be very useful if you know how to use it (which admittedly involves clicking hide a lot, because the defaults are very bad)
Re: (Score:2)
Make a conscious decision and do not use social media platforms.
The discussions I have on Facebook are not entirely different than the ones I have on Slashdot. The big difference is that I know the people I'm talking to, so it's rare that things devolve into name-calling and trolling like I see so often here. Facebook is 100% what you make it. (Plus ads.) I see posts from CNN, CNN International, BBC News and other things I find interesting. If you don't want to see pictures of people's dinners, it's not hard to tailor your friends list. I just checked my last few comm
Re: (Score:3)
My biggest fear realized! What a fool I am! My FB account has links to my family, my friends! They could ALL fall victim to... What exactly?
Market Opening (Score:1)
Looks like a space has opened up for a social platform offering Unlimited Free Speech.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know how this got so bad on facebook. Problems for sure are the filter bubble effect due to peers. From my experience the worst were the recommended news though, which always came from totally unreliable sources. I don't know anyone who recommended such rubbish personally. The quality seems slightly better now, but more importantly I only get articles on non-political topics now.
Re: (Score:2)
People can believe anything, some people literally anything what so ever. How ever people will also tend to believe what ever serves their own personal interest or in a twisty way, what they believe is their own personal interest. Did facebook trigger the crisis, probably but likely just triggered earlier, rather than a little latter. People struggling in that environment simply seized upon the opportunity for a competitive advantage within their society and collectively aligned their beliefs to assuage the
Re: (Score:2)
That might last a week or even a month before it's just Troll Central. That's a fate Facebook has to avoid to remain something close to profitable.
Two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner (Score:3)
When a majority of the people agree it is socially acceptable to hatemonger upon a targeted minority, the rule of law is rendered mute by the cacophony of voices willing to suspend decency for the brief ecstasy of a social like or two or thirty.
Facebook has ALWAYS been a monster (Score:2, Interesting)
And it's the same everywhere.
It helped Russians violate US election law. It helps landlords illegally advertise based on race, religion, age, and gender.
How many laws does it have to break before we admit it is a criminal enterprise?
Re: Facebook has ALWAYS been a monster (Score:1)
Sigh.
You think your election laws apply anywhere outside of the US?
Guess what, cupcake, it doesn't. Russia doesn't give a shit and neither does the US when it comes to interfering in other sovereign states.
What's pissing off Hilary Clinton's mindless drones is that - for whatever reason - that evil witch didn't get "Her Turn."
For all of us outside the US, it's just fucking hilarious. And btw, just two political parties? That's no democracy.
Re: (Score:2)
The election occur in the US, so guess what CUPCAKE, the US law does apply to US elections.
It is a crime to do publicly advertise or contribute to a candidate without obeying the US election laws.
Re: (Score:2)
The question is not whether it can be used to commit crimes, the question is whether it has substantial non-criminal uses or perhaps whether there's criminal intent. In the cases you mentioned, Facebook didn't commit a crime, but rather criminals used it.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. People *are* the problem. And in a situation with a kid with matches, the kid is the problem. It still makes sense not to give the kid matches in the first place. Not that we can prevent people from doing stupid things in a free society, I get that. But we can still hold the person who gives matches to the kid accountable, can't we?
It's not Facebook ... (Score:3)
... and it's not other social media.
It's people who take that sit seriously.
You'd think that, by now, people would know that social media is a game room.
It was intended for entertainment purposes only.
It's not Facebook.
It's us.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep [statcounter.com].
Social Media Stats in Myanmar - February 2018
Facebook 93.78%
YouTube 2.2%
Pinterest 1.93%
Twitter 1.46%
Google+ 0.16%
Tumblr 0.11%
Re: (Score:2)
No need for that.
Like any aspect of online content, viewers should already be insulated against stupidity.
You and I, almost instinctively, filter out the bullshit and we have done that since the day we embraced the Internet.
Facebook and other social media, as well as news sites, have a lot to offer.
The answer is not to abandon ... the answer is to tolerate and ignore.
Social media as weapon ... (Score:2)
... the only way to win is not to play.
Ignore the baiting and keep scrolling until you get to the cat video.
How is this Facebook's fault? (Score:1)
Islam has been a genocidial cult for the last 1400 years: how is that Facebook's fault?
Ordering and Moderation (Score:5, Insightful)
What's terribly insidious about Facebook as a platform is not the speech it allows, but the speech it promotes.
Here on /., you have numerous ways about how to order the comments on the site, which ones to show/not show, etc. Facebook does not. Instead, it orders your feed based on what it thinks you will interact with -- this happens to be things which we strongly disagree with. Instead of a society where reasonable people have discussions about solutions to problems, Facebook has created a platform where it literally promotes posts that troll to increase "user engagement" -- and thus their ad revenue. Online discussions have literally become worse since Facebook has existed -- and you see it here too.
In Soviet Valley, Facebook uses you.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't see how that's different to every other media platform including this one. Controversy attracts eyeballs. Eyeballs attract ads. Ads attract money. etc. Look at the recent CNN controversy where they basically admitted the Russia scandal they've been promoting is fake news.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course controversy attracts eyeballs, but who's voices do I hear in the discussion?
If I want to hear from trolls on this site, I just broswse at -1 -- really easy -- I'm choosing who to read.
If I want to avoid trolls on Facebook? To begin with, there's no way to "down mod" anything on Facebook -- you have your choice of love/like/angry/funny -- where as /. has a few options to downmod -- flamebait and troll. To make matters worse, their ranking algorithm picks out the stories with said reactions to feed
Re: (Score:2)
Rohingyans Brought it on Themselves (Score:4, Interesting)
The Rohingyan Muslims have for years been a constant thorn in the side of Burmese people and government. The Rohingyans have been attacking and killing the Buddhists in the region for well over a century now.
This so-called "Genocide" is the response to constant acts of violent Jihad against otherwise peaceful Buddhists that have been going on for years. Shame that the media has been ignoring the plight of these peaceful Buddhists finally snapping and defending themselves against this onslaught of Arabic barbarism.
Make no mistake, the Rohingyans brought it upon themselves for their inability to peacefully live alongside Buddhists.
Appauling Lies (Score:2, Interesting)
There is nothing peaceful about the Burmese Buddhists that that are murdering and raping *thousands* of Rohingyans. The evidence is overwhelming that the Rohingya are the victims. And their plight is severe.
It is Genocide, and due to apathy by Australia and others likely to be successful.
I do not know how you can live with yourself promoting such lies. I suppose you think that the Jews also brought the Holocaust upon themselves. And that Pol Pot was a kind man misunderstood by western media.
I have seen
Massacre of Buddhists at the hand of the Rohingya (Score:1)
The British must bear the responsibility on the racial / religious conflict
It was the British who promised the Rohingya migrants a muslim state inside the Buddhist Burma (the Brits had/have no right to do that, but they did) and gave weapons to the Rohingya which they used to slaughter the Buddhists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arakan_massacres_in_1942
During World War II in Burma (present-day Myanmar), Rohingya Muslims (allied with the British and promised a Muslim state in return) fought against local Ra
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Make no mistake, the Rohingyans brought it upon themselves for their inability to peacefully live alongside Buddhists.
Citation needed. Why the hell was this modded up when there is no concrete information? Whats next, +5 insightful for "9-11 was done by the jews?"
Re: (Score:3)
Because it's a well documented historic fact. Look up what happened in 1942 for example. Bangladeshi Muslims were basically the British weapon of conquest against native Burmese Buddhists supported by Japanese.
And then Brits pulled out as Japanese defeated them at the time
Current mess is geopolitically likely an anti-Chinese move. OBOR needs exits to the maritime lanes that bypass potential naval blockade of Straight of Malacca. Rakhine is one of these exits. Pumping up the Muslim insurgency against Buddhis
Here's your citation (Score:2)
A citation, really? Do you habitually stick your head in the sand?
A specific example of attempted genocide by Islamic invaders. [wikipedia.org] ...with the Muslim camps being described as building "towers of skulls of the infidels" on hillocks.
Here's another reference for your citation list. [wikipedia.org]
another one. [thereligionofpeace.com]
Re: (Score:2)
You know, if I search history back centuries, I can find horrors from any religion you'd care to name (and also horrors not supported by religion). As for your second link, while I abhor the Muslim penalties for apostasy, they don't apply to non-Muslims, and I can find lots of death penalties in the past for relatively small crimes. As far as a biased web site goes, that's not going to convince anybody.
Look, I don't like Islam, and I don't like current Muslim governments, but Islam is not nearly as bad
Re: (Score:2)
You know, if I search history back centuries, I can find horrors from any religion you'd care to name (and also horrors not supported by religion). As for your second link, while I abhor the Muslim penalties for apostasy, they don't apply to non-Muslims, and I can find lots of death penalties in the past for relatively small crimes. As far as a biased web site goes, that's not going to convince anybody.
Look, I don't like Islam, and I don't like current Muslim governments, but Islam is not nearly as bad as some people claim.
Every religion has had its horrors.
However, the only religion out there that enshrines violence and utter depravity against non-believers in its own f*cking holy books is Islam. There is nothing you can do to write off what is claimed in their own books. Islam is a violent death cult that converts others by the sword. When it fails to do so, it takes pot shots.
The best part about Christianity and Hinduism is the golden rule. In case you've forgotten it, it's simply: "Treat others the way you want to be trea
Re: (Score:2)
Holy books don't make a religion. They're easily distorted to suit the views of the people who should be paying attention to them. You can see this by looking at some variations of Christianity and comparing them to the Bible, or to what Jesus said. To understand adherents of a religion, we need to study a lot more than just their holy books.
I'm not advocating not defending ourselves from people who attack us. However, most Muslims aren't going to attack us. They have their own lives, and can't be a
Re: (Score:2)
You've got a point. I just see so many people talking about how Islam is a dangerous ideology based on its holy book that I may not read carefully. (It may be worth remembering that the Christian holy book also has atrocities committed in the name of God.)
Re: (Score:2)
As for your second link, while I abhor the Muslim penalties for apostasy, they don't apply to non-Muslims, and I can find lots of death penalties in the past for relatively small crimes. As far as a biased web site goes, that's not going to convince anybody.
Look, I don't like Islam, and governments, but Islam is not nearly as bad as some people claim.
Please provide a reference for your claim that apostasy doesn't apply to non-Muslims. Include historical references of such interpretations, please.
Perhaps Muslims twist their own guiding documents to justify whatever horrors they committed in the past. So what in their guiding documents steer them away from such creative interpretation? What is their current social trajectory? What will appeasement achieve?
Perhaps Islam is far worse than most realize, along with most other -isms.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Whoever is right or wrong in this shit fest, the west should take note that multiculturalism ends in genocide.
One company (Score:2)
No, the beast is Islam (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Isn't that what the Romans said about Christianity?
And by Zeus they were right...
Perhaps you meant to invoke Jupiter?
are you kidding me? (Score:2, Insightful)
Wrong country (Score:3)
The problems reported are in the country they came from, not where they fled to. In other words, the Facebook problem is what forced them to cross the border.
I'm reminded of the tiny Babelfish. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't usually read or reply to ACs, but I believe you are trying to state something fundamental, yet your command of English may not be quite up to the task:
Stop relating religion to nation!!! ...
..snip..
As political doctrine isliam proclaim that all Muslim are "one nation" this is the first place why other religions can't live together with muslims!!!
I think this is what you intended:
Islam proclaims that all Muslim are "one nation". This is why a non-Muslim minority cannot live in peace with a Muslim majority.
In other words, the Muslim will kill any other culture or belief system with "death by a thousand cuts", until they have the numbers to simply destroy all others.
It does seem that C [wikipedia.org]
Facebook's First Genocide (Score:2)
(I reserve the right to amend that in the future if a previous genocide gets blamed on Facebook).
First, who is saying to ban free speech? Knock it off with that stupid strawman.
It's all about attention. Zeynep Tufekci writes and speaks very well about this.
There's a difference between allowing hate speech on the internet, and promoting it as the top item in your newsfeeds. The first is not the issue--it's the second. Combine that with many poor people around the world cannot access the internet, but onl