Facebook risks being an ‘accessory to war crimes’

THE United Nations has warned Facebook that it risks being dragged into international war crimes trials for its role in future human rights violations, and called on the social network to address hate speech more quickly.

Zeid Ra’ad Al-hussein, the UN’S human rights chief, said Facebook risked becoming an accessory to horrific crimes and that the company had not taken violence in Burma incited on the social network seriously.

It comes after a UN report into atrocities in Burma, also known as Myanmar, this week said Facebook had been “a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate”. It was accused of allowing false information and hate speech on its platform to spread across Burma, whipping up violence.

On Monday, the company banned dozens of accounts, including the military chief ’s own page.

Mr Al-hussein said Facebook risked being subpoenaed in future trials “of those accused of the worst crimes” if it did not learn its lesson.

“We felt early on very uncomfortable with what we were seeing in Myanmar, [but] in the early meetings … with Facebook, I didn’t think they were taking it seriously,” he said. “Hopefully they’ve now awoken.”