Rohingya sue Facebook for $150bn over Myanmar hate speech

bbc.com

12 points·DitheringIdiot··3 comments

I attended a Facebook office party during a time of heavy strife between the Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar. Numerous engineers who work directly on the products that were being used to coordinate targeted attacks on Muslims were at this party. I asked them what they thought about the issue and they just kind of shrugged and said if they didn’t use facebook’s products then they would use something else. That told me all I needed to know about Facebook’s culture.

Their apathy is to be condemned, it is the same logic applied to weapons manufacturers for decades now.

The mistake was to make yourself dependent on such platforms. Some very special people with challenges in their lives will call that victim blaming now, but it is important to understand this to not let it happen again.

Whole economies in third world became dependent on the infrastructure of one company. This is pretty dangerous for any minority.

But the solution is also not to criminalize "hate speech". That is even a worse idea than using Facebook in the first place. It will just make issues worse for everyone. It will be used against the Rohingya. Even more than using Facebook to make people identifiable in the first place

I was already thinking about leaving social media when the genocide in Myanmar happened. But it pushed me over the edge, and led to me deleting facebook, whatsapp, and instagram.

Most people I speak to about facebook aren't aware of this issue — and of the similar situation brewing in Ethiopia.

If you want to live a life of intention, one that's aligned with your values. I really suggest deleting facebook. You'll find that you're happier and healthier than before. Maybe make it a NY resolution.

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