Suppressing Atrocity Speech on Social Media

Abstract

In its August 2018 report on violence against Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar, the Fact Finding Mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that “the role of social media [was] significant” in fueling the atrocities. Over the course of more than four hundred pages, the report documented how Facebook was used to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incitement to violence in the lead-up to and during the violence in Myanmar. Concluding that there were reasonable grounds to believe that genocide was perpetrated against the Rohingya, the report indicated that “the Mission has no doubt that the prevalence of hate speech,” both offline and online, “contributed to increased tension and a climate in which individuals and groups may become more receptive to incitement.” The experience in Myanmar demonstrates the increasing role that social media plays in the commission of atrocities, prompting suggestions that social media companies should operate according to a human rights framework.

Information interventions and social media

“…In the past, both the Nuremberg trials and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted media content providers and executives (Lafraniere, 2003). Nonetheless, even if the Malabo Protocol would enter into force, it is unlikely that the failure of social media companies to tackle hate speech could qualify as an offense (Irving, 2019), as social media are not content providers, but organise content published by users. However, making social media companies liable could encourage the overly ambitious censorship of content to escape responsibility.…”

Legal challenges for the European Union concerning an international treaty on business and human rights

“…The impact of business on human rights, and gravity of violations thereof that are attributable to corporations is one of the most visible, yet also most contentious issue nowadays. Intense scrutiny of business enterprises and their obligations regarding fundamental human rights is ongoing, stirred up regularly by various allegations of corporate misconduct, such as social media companies' pursuit of profit over privacy (Klein, 2016: 18), or their inaction in combatting hate crimes, or even incitement to genocide (Irving, 2019). Implications corporate acts and omissions may have on human rights are firmly established nowadays.…”