Not only does Meta née Facebook act as a tool for tools here in the United States, but it was apparently used to awful effect in Burma. Rohingya fleeing the oppressive regime have filed suits in California and the UK, and while Facebook's unethical seeming actions are not seemingly illegal in California, it appears lawyers will be a'lawyering.
The complaint argues that the tendency of Facebook algorithms to recommend "susceptible users join extremist groups" leaves the platform "naturally open to exploitation by autocratic politicians and regimes."
"As such, Facebook's arrival in Burma provided exactly what the military and its civilian terrorists were praying for," the complaint states.
The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into whether the Myanmar military committed large-scale crimes against the Rohingya. In 2017, between 600,000 and 1 million Rohingya were forcibly displaced from Myanmar, with most fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
The refugees' complaint alleges that Facebook "barely reacted and devoted scant resources" to address the issue despite being "repeatedly alerted between 2013 and 2017 to the vast quantities of anti-Rohingya hate speech and misinformation on its system."
