Facebook bans Myanmar military with immediate effect

Facebook on Thursday said it had banned the Myanmar military from using its Facebook and Instagram platforms with immediate effect, as weeks of mass demonstrations continue in the Southeast Asian country after the military seized power, Reuters reported.

“Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated a need for this ban,” Facebook said in a blog post.

“We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) on Facebook and Instagram are too great.”

The army seized power this month after alleging fraud in a November 8 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). The army then detained her and much of the party leadership, Reuters reported.

At least three protesters and one policeman have been killed in violence at rallies.

The U.S tech giant said it would also ban all “Tatmadaw-linked commercial entities” from advertising on its platforms.

Reuters reported that Facebook stated the decision to ban the Myanmar army came due to “exceptionally severe human rights abuses and the clear risk of future military-initiated violence in Myanmar”, as well as the army’s repeated history of violating Facebook’s rules, including since the coup.

Facebook said the ban covered the military and its sub-units, army controlled-media and the ministries of home affairs, defence and border affairs, which are under direct military control.

The military government could not immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook is widely used in Myanmar and has been one of the ways the junta has communicated with people, despite an official move to ban on the platform in the early days of the coup, Reuters reported.