Facebook announced on Thursday that it will restrict the distribution of all Myanmar military [Tatmadaw] content on its social media platform, arguing that Tatmadaw continues to "spread misinformation".
Profiles of military leaders and content created by them will not be promoted in line with Facebook's "global policies on repeat offenders of misinformation". The measures will particularly apply to accounts like the Tatmadaw Information Team’s Facebook Page and Tatmadaw spokesperson Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun.
The ability of government agencies in Myanmar to request that Facebook remove content via its "normal channels reserved for authorities around the world" will be suspended as well.
"Simultaneously, we are protecting content, including political speech, that allows the people of Myanmar to express themselves and to show the world what is transpiring inside their country", Facebook stated.
The social media platform also announced measures against those who incite violence, promote hate speech, spread "misinformation claiming that there was widespread fraud or foreign interference in Myanmar’s November election" or call to bring weapons to any location in the country.
"We are closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in Myanmar, and are in close communication with governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations that care deeply about Myanmar’s future", the company added. "We are also monitoring the impact of sanctions that are likely to be imposed in the coming days, and exploring additional measures that we will share soon."
For several days, Myanmar saw massive protests against the military coup, with thousands of demonstrators demanding the release of those detained and clashing with police.
Tatmadaw carried out the coup after repeatedly accusing the National League for Democracy (NLD) of election fraud, after the party won the November 2020 general election in a landslide.
