Facebook deletes main page of Myanmar military for ‘incitement of violence’
Following the use of violence against pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar by the military, Facebook has deleted the main page of the Tatmadaw, another name for the country’s military.
Al Jazeera quoted a representative for Facebook as saying on Sunday that the page of the military’s True News Information Team Page was taken down for “repeated violations of our community standards prohibiting incitement of violence and coordinating harm”.
This comes following the worldwide condemnation by leaders including United Nations Security General Antonio Guterres.
“I condemn the use of deadly violence in Myanmar. The use of lethal force, intimidation and harassment against peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable. Everyone has a right to peaceful assembly. I call on all parties to respect election results and return to civilian rule,” Guterres said in a tweet.
The Myanmar police opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in the city of Mandalay on Saturday, killing two people and wounding dozens, according to witnesses.
The New York Times citing witnesses reported that the shootings occurred as the authorities were trying to force workers back to their jobs at a local shipyard. They were among hundreds of thousands of workers across Myanmar who have walked off their jobs to protest the military.
The Bangkok Post citing local media reported that at least five people were injured by rubber bullets, a photographer at the scene reported, while emergency medical staff treating the injured confirmed at least six others were shot with live rounds.
Over 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the shipyard to block the police, leading to a tense standoff that lasted Saturday afternoon. The authorities used water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, slingshots and ultimately live ammunition to break up the crowd, witnesses said.
A volunteer with a local medical charity, Ko Kyaw Lin, said he had been rescuing some of the wounded in Mandalay but could not get close enough to some of them because the police and soldiers were shooting at people in the crowd.