Facebook has decided to remove misinformation that could lead to voter suppression or damage the electoral process. Misinformation and rumours would be removed from the Facebook platform
Announcing measures to combat hate-speech, Facebook said it will deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify hate speech. It claimed that in the second quarter of 2020 it took action against more than 2.8 lakh pieces of hate-speech related content in Myanmar.
To bring transparency in political advertisement, all such ads in Myanmar will have a ‘paid for by’ tag attached to them to show the organisation or person behind the ad.
In order to limit the spread of misinformation, Facebook has decided that when a user shares a photo which is more than a year old and violent in content, they will be shown a message to that effect. It will ensure that harmful and misleading information is not shared out of context on Facebook.
Facebook has introduced a third party fact checking programme since March this year to reduce the spread of misinformation through its platform. In Myanmar, Facebook is working with three fact-checking partners – BOOM, AFP Fact Check and Fact Crescendo.
The social media platform informed that it is working to find and stop coordinated campaigns aimed at manipulating public debate.
Myanmar is going to hold its general election on 8 November.
Facebook has been criticised in the past for allowing its platform to be misused to incite violence against Rohingyas in Myanmar.
– Rajesh Jha/Dhaka
