Facebook ‘substantially contributed’ to the ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority

According to a new report released on Wednesday by Amnesty International, Meta-owned Facebook’s “dangerous algorithms and reckless pursuit of profit significantly contributed to the atrocities perpetrated by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya people in 2017.”

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority who live in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State. According to the report titled ‘The Social Atrocity: Meta and the Right to Remedy for the Rohingya,’ Meta was aware of Facebook’s algorithmic systems, “supercharging” the spread of harmful anti-Rohingya content in Myanmar.