[mekoka]

What a lot of Facebook defenders on HN seem to be ignorant about is the context of the finger pointing. FB stopped being a "data sharing platform" when it muscled its way into becoming synonymous of "the internet" in much of the underdeveloped world. In many of these countries (including Myanmar) people can get a really cheap plan that offers next to nothing beyond "Facebook Free Basic", FB's walled garden (e.g for 3$/month you get 100mb of data + unlimited facebook). This is effectively a two-level Internet with FB being the obvious default. It's not as if FB was unaware of the potentially detrimental effects, they just chose to be blind to them https://www.mmtimes.com/business/technology/20685-facebook-f...

> In 2015, researchers evaluating how Facebook Zero shapes information and communication technologies usage in the developing world found that 11% of Indonesians who said they used Facebook also said they did not use the Internet. 65% of Nigerians, and 61% of Indonesians agree with the statement that "Facebook is the Internet" compared with only 5% in the US. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Basics#User_experience_re...

Facebook certainly isn't the main responsible, but it's an effective catalyst.

Consider that people in Myanmar have been isolated from the world for the better part of the last 40 years. They're effectively playing catchup with the rest of the planet. The country is already afflicted by all the symptoms you can attribute to dictatorship, tribalism, various conflicts, lack of information, lack of education, superstition, lack of infrastructure, etc. Take that as the base context and then introduce the population to technology (smartphones) and "the internet" (mostly via FB). Step back and watch bad things happen... much faster.

Regardless of the article not pointing all fingers to all culprits, what's concerning to me regarding specifically Facebook is their recklessness especially in some of these emerging countries. Maintaining peace in many of these places is already difficult and the various agreements are fragile, but FB in their pursuit for growth and profit has maintained an attitude of continuous and utter denial when it comes to their product's potential as an instrument of propaganda. That to me is to some extent almost insulting.