Facebook clashes with Burmese junta after clash

RANGÚN.- After Facebook blocked news posting in Australia, sparking criticism globally, the social network shut down the account that managed the Myanmar Army after the coup and the repression of demonstrations by the security forces, which yesterday provoked the death of two people.

The social network announced this Sunday the deletion of a page managed by the Burmese army, el Tatmadaw, considering that its content could fuel the violence which has shaken the Asian country since the coup at the beginning of the month.

“This morning, and in accordance with our global action policies, we removed Tatmadaw’s news team page from True News for repeated violations of our standards which prohibit incitement to violence and coordinating harmful actions, ”Facebook’s human rights official Alex Warofka reported.

Facebook is very widespread in Burma and its officials had already indicated in February that the situation in the country was an “emergency” and they intended to “dramatically reduce the spread of false information” on the army pages. Thousands of people took to the streets of major cities in Burma again today to protest the February 1 coup, reinforced by outrage over the deaths of two people during yesterday’s protests in the city of Mandalay.

This Sunday, the main protests took place in Mandalay and Rangoon, the two most populous cities in the country, anticipating the general strike called this Monday to demand an end to military rule and the release of politicians, starting with democratic leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Protesters in particular denounce the deaths of two people during Saturday’s protests in Mandalay.

At least six other protesters were injured by fire from security forces, according to Burmese media. In addition, the country is less than 24 hours from a critical day: this Monday, thousands of people will take part in what is considered to be the biggest demonstration against the military authorities since the beginning of this crisis.

The protest will be accompanied by a general strike that aims to compete with the Four Eight Day, when millions of people took to the streets on August 8, 1988 to challenge the government of the then Socialist Republic. In fact, Monday’s strike is now popularly known as the “five twos” day.

The event will be organized by the General strike committee, created this Saturday, which implies 25 organizations from different fields, including political parties, labor unions, student unions, farmers unions, religious groups, women’s groups, monks, doctors, lawyers and writers’ groups to “work for the end of the military dictatorship, the abolition of the 2008 Constitution and the creation of a federal democratic union ”, according to his declaration of principles collected by“ The Irrawaddy ”.

Stores and businesses should close jointly. The country’s largest retailer, City Mart, has announced it will close all of its outlets. Violent repression of the largely peaceful movement risks slowing an already struggling economy. Almost all private bank branches have closed, while ATMs are strapped for cash in the face of growing demand.

“We expect to see the largest crowd of people across the country on Monday,” said Aung Kyaw Kyaw Oo, a lower house MP representing the National League for Democracy, of the country’s now detained de facto leader Aung. San Suu Kyi. “We must continue to fight the brutal army,” he told Bloomberg.

During this time since the international community insisted on their demand for a political and peaceful solution to the crisis and mainly the “end of violence against demonstrators”, in the words of the German Foreign Ministry, which also called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi. Also the head of European diplomacy, Josep borrell, condemned the violence of the security forces against civilians and announced a meeting of the 27 foreign ministers to “take the appropriate decisions”.

Agencies: ANSA, AFP and DPA

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