Facebook under fire in Burma

A SENIOR Facebook executive has admitted that the site can have “negative consequences” after the United Nations accused the social network of fuelling hatred against the Rohingya minority in Burma.

“Connecting the world isn’t always going to be a good thing; sometimes it’s going to have negative consequences,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook’s news feed, said.

It comes after a UN investigation into alleged acts of genocide in Burma said social media had played a “determining role” in the conflict, with Facebook singled out as a catalyst.

This week Yanghee Lee of the UN said Facebook had “now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended” in the country. She said it was used by nationalist Buddhists to incite “a lot of violence and a lot of hatred”.

Last year Facebook ditched its motto, “make the world more open and connected”, amid growing scepticism of its effect on politics. The site now says it wants to “build community and bring the world closer together”.