Facebook - among a number of companies from the US, UK, France, Switzerland, and China - has been included on Burma Campaign UK's 'dirty list' of corporations accused of involvement in human rights and environmental violations in Myanmar - or of doing business with the country's military - which has been accused of genocide.
A list of 49 companies, compiled by the pressure group Burma Campaign UK, reveals the global breadth of international organizations that have continued to provide arms, infrastructure, technology, engineering, and expertise to the Burmese military, or supported projects that have been accused of causing environmental destruction, such as hydroelectric dams and jade mines, reports The Guardian.
Burma Campaign UK said Facebook was on the 'dirty list' because it had "consistently allowed its platform to be used to incite hatred and violence [against] minorities in Burma, in particular the the minority group - Rohingya, and Muslims in general".
Facebook has also come under scrutiny of late elsewhere for allowing racially inflammatory and harmful content to spread on its platform, unchecked, for years. A recent UN fact-finding mission on Myanmar specifically singled out the social media giant for playing a vital role in further stoking ethnic tensions.
In November, an independent report commissioned by Facebook concluded that, in Myanmar, "Facebook has become a means for those seeking to spread hate and cause harm, and posts have been linked to offline violence". Burma Campaign UK acknowledged that Facebook had recently taken action to rectify abuse of social media in Myanmar, but on the 'dirty list' accused it of not going far enough.
Following are some of the companies that have been named on the list: China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (Casic),Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Infosys, Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (Komid), Sinohydro Corporation, STE Global Trading Pte Ltd, Tata Group/Tata Sons, Toshiba, Viettel, VISA, and Western Union.
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