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Myanmar hardline monks vow to stay on Facebook despite ban

By REUTERS

JUNE 9, 2018 05:26

YANGON - Myanmar's hardline monks will dodge bans on Facebook and keep using it to "tell the truth." they said on Friday, after the social media giant barred several Buddhist nationalists for hate messages targeting Rohingya Muslims.

United Nations officials investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar have said Facebook has been a source of propaganda against the minority in a country where it has become a near-ubiquitous communications tool as the economy opens up.

Myanmar's nationalist monks and activists, who have emerged as a political force in recent years, have been sharing violent and angry rhetoric on Facebook targeting the minority, seen by many in the Buddhist-majority country as illegal immigrants.

"It is a violation of freedom of expression," Thuseitta, a member of the Patriotic Myanmar Monks' Union told Reuters hours after Facebook identified him as a "hate figure."

"We will keep using Facebook with different names and accounts to tell the truth to people."

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, the United Nations and aid agencies have said, following an army crackdown after Rohingya insurgent attacks last August.

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