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Home/AI Incident Database/UN investigators find Facebook's platform and algorithms played a determining role in inciting violence against the Rohingya

UN investigators find Facebook's platform and algorithms played a determining role in inciting violence against the Rohingya

Facebook's feed algorithms amplified anti-Rohingya hate in Myanmar while the company had a handful of Burmese-speaking moderators, contributing, per UN investigators, to ethnic cleansing.

Severity: Highfacebookmyanmarrohingyarecommender

At a glance

Organisation: Meta (Facebook)
Industry: Consumer apps and social media
Country or region: Asia
Occurred: 25 Aug 2017
Disclosed: 12 Mar 2018
Type of harm: Terrorism and extremist content, Harmful, hateful or violent content, Erosion of trust and democratic harm

All details 13

Kind of system: Recommender systems and algorithmic feeds
Severity: High
Confirmation: Confirmed by the organisation
Technique: Engagement-driven amplification of hate speech with minimal Burmese-language moderation
Primary root cause: Missing human oversight
Scale: Over 700,000 Rohingya displaced; Amnesty and UN reports on Facebook's role
Outcome: Facebook commissioned an independent assessment admitting it had not done enough; Rohingya groups sued for $150 billion in 2021 and complained to the OECD. The foundational case for recommender-system harm.

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