“Facebook, we are connecting the world. And we are coming to your country whether you like it or not!”, seems like a good start to the Facebook commercial – Yet probably they omitted the important parts:
- Between 80% – 100% of what is on our site/platform is B*llshi*(crap)!, according to John Oliver of Last Week Tonight show.
Facebook pages are full of lies about the posters themselves; their activities, their looks, and their wealth, exaggerated to the fullest possible extent. In Myanmar at least 50% of the FB accounts are using fake names or anonymous. At least everyone MI has spoken to has at least two FB accounts; a real name account and a fake account, where they can hide under anonymity. The tendency to post lies and commit illegal acts exponentially increased once you can hide under anonymity and not get caught. Married guys pretend to be single girls. Old men pretend to be teenagers. Single mothers pretend to be virgins. Everyone is trying out their fantasies using their anonymous/fake avatar accounts.
2. Facebook believes in giving everyone a voice, probably without worrying much about what that voice chooses to say. How bad could it be?
May be it was Myanmar military who caused COVID, if someone said it on FB. May be the NNCP (NUG, NLD, CRPH, PDF) terrorists are taking over five major cities, including Yangon as of yesterday. Because FB said so. People can post fake news, make up stories and slanders, using the fake accounts, without a pinch of responsibility or accountability. Some even created media outlets via FB to spread their political agenda and malicious lies. And this is particularly rampant in Myanmar. Just look at the following statistics of fake news from terrorist sponsored media groups on FB in June 2022 alone:
| Sr. | Media Name | Disinformation | Fake News | True News |
| 1 | Khit Thit | 118 | 36 | 38 |
| 2 | Mizzima | 55 | 13 | 27 |
| 3 | Tachilek | 37 | 16 | 11 |
| 4 | DVB | 36 | 9 | 18 |
| 5 | Thit Htoo Lwin | 36 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | Myaelatt Athan | 31 | 4 | 15 |
| 7 | Delta News Agency | 29 | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | Ayeyawady | 14 | – | – |
| Total | 356 | 87 | 127 |
3. It is not FB place to tell you you are wrong. FB is about making connections.
Sure, it is also about connecting terrorists across the world; the same terrorists organising their attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Myanmar. The terrorists are seeking donations for assassinations and bombing campaigns in Myanmar via FB. They are continuously spreading hatred towards military and police families via FB. They (NUG) are even issuing bonds to finance terrorist activities via FB.
FB is #1 medium in Myanmar where prostitutes and pimps advertise to get clients. It is also the medium for trading endangered wild life in Myanmar. Human trafficking is also best done via FB, due to anonymity and lack of reach by law enforcement. Even fake Myanmar Kyats are being sold via FB platform.
FB is #1 medium in Myanmar where prostitutes and pimps advertise to get clients. It is also the medium for trading endangered wild life in Myanmar. Human trafficking is also best done via FB, due to anonymity and lack of reach by law enforcement. Even fake Myanmar Kyats are being sold via FB platform.
4. FB is a platform anyone can use, to do good (or bad!).
It is riddled with so much B*llshi* that no one would be able to control or contain it. FB appointed Burmese speaking people to stem out hate speech and some of the bad activities. Yet, the editing is loaded with bias towards now-fraudulent NLD government, who had paid FB close to $60 million to monitor and control anti government sentiments against the (NLD) government then. FB probably knows this bias yet with the revenue from the NLD to them, who can blame them!
5. Blue tick on FB must be a reliable source.
The reality cannot be further from the truth. Most of the terrorist campaign organisers, instigators, and fund raisers have all obtained the famous FB blue ticks. The fakes news channel received similar vote of confidence from FB. By giving blue ticks to such persons, FB is deceiving the entire Myanmar population by implicitly directly the populace trust towards these terrorists.
Yet, with all these shortcomings, Myanmar government seems to be taking little or no action on FB. May be they are unsure of how, or may be no one is forthcoming enough to take responsibility to rid the country of that. A prosperous China would be a good example to emulate from the start. But it is not too late yet. By legislating all Myanmar registered companies not to advertise on FB, the government can bring FB immediately to the negotiation table. As Lee Kwan Yew once said, ‘You cannot change someone’s behaviour until it hurts their pockets!’.
So, before you return to use FB after reading this, there is just one thing you need to remember – FB is full of trash and totally unreliable and untrustworthy information.
