Rohingya must be compensated by Facebook for hate speech: Amnesty

A human rights organization said on Thursday that Facebook should pay reparations to thousands of Rohingya who were forced from their homes in Myanmar as a result of an online campaign exacerbated by hate speech, according to Amnesty International.

Myanmar’s military rulers targeted the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, in 2017 and drove them into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they have lived in sprawling refugee camps ever since.

As victims’ associations and human rights advocates have pointed out, Facebook’s algorithms are promoting hate speech that promotes extremist content.

Despite attempts by Rohingya to report anti-Rohingya content using Facebook’s ‘report’ button, Amnesty noted that these hateful narratives have been able to pass and reach unprecedented audiences in Myanmar.

“Facebook Papers” revealed in October 2021 that company executives knew that the site fuelled toxic content against ethnic minorities and other groups.

US and UK Business

Rohingya representatives have filed three lawsuits against Facebook, including one with the OECD policy guidelines for responsible business conduct, against the company in the US and the UK.

US refugees filed a lawsuit in California, the state where Facebook and its parent company Meta are based, in December, seeking $150 billion in damages.

As a result of Meta refusal to compensate Rohingya victims to date. Even though the community’s modest requests represent crumbs from the company’s huge profits. Amnesty concluded that the company detached from its human rights impacts at all levels.

Facebook Urged to adopt human rights

As part of the communication, Facebook urged to adopt a “proactive human rights due diligence” policy across its platforms. But also to redouble its efforts in ensuring national authorities are monitoring its activities closely.

“It critical that governments protect human rights and that effective legislation adopted and enforced to reduce the use of surveillance-based business models in the technology sector,” according to the report.