Facebook ‘a beast’ in Myanmar, says UN

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has accused Facebook of playing a ‘‘determining role’’ in stirring up hatred against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.

More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the former Burma’s Rakhine state since a military crackdown that began in late August. Many have provided harrowing accounts of murder, arson and rape by Myanmar’s security forces.

A UN team investigating possible acts of genocide has alleged that social media has been used to fuel negative perceptions against the Rohingya among Myanmar’s majority Buddhist population.

‘‘It has ... substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public,’’ said Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.

‘‘Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media,’’ he said.

Facebook has previously said that it is working to remove hate speech in Myanmar and to kick off people who consistently share such content.

‘‘We take this incredibly seriously, and have worked with experts in Myanmar for several years to develop safety resources and counter-speech,’’ said a Facebook spokesman.

However, Yanghee Lee, a UN Myanmar investigator, said Facebook had been exploited to spread hate speech.

‘‘Everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar,’’ she said. ‘‘It was used to convey public messages, but we know that the ultra-nationalist Buddhists have their own Facebooks and are really inciting a lot of violence and a lot of hatred against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.

‘‘Facebook has now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended.’’