Facebook commits to Myanmar military ban

Facebook said it was banning Burma’s powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and groups from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation.

The social media giant was heavily criticised for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims.

The firm has been accused of being lax in fighting online misinformation and manipulation in many countries, but Myanmar is one location where it has been most closely tied to deadly violence.

Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled from the state of Rakhine over the past year in response to a counterinsurgency campaign by the military, which has been accused of massive human rights violations.