'Facebook is spreading hate speech against Rohingya Muslims': UN
Geneva: The UN human rights experts have blamed Facebook for playing a key role in spreading hate speech against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Speaking at the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Myanmar investigator Yanghee Lee said that "everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar," adding it has been used to spread hate speech. "Iam afraid that Facebook has now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended," she said.
Facebook did not immediately comment on the fresh charges.
Lee said she had seen evidence that Myanmar's military was continuing to target the Rohingya, razing their villages.
Marzuki Darusman, Chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said on Monday that the social media platform had played a "determining role" in Myanmar.
"As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media," ABC Online quoted Darusman as saying.
More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August.
Last week, Sri Lanka barred social messaging networks, including Facebook, following violence against minority Muslims in Kandy district.
The government ordered internet and mobile service providers to temporarily block Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as messaging service Viber, after officials said these platforms were fueling online hate speech.
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CM Siddaramaiah to withdraw all cases against pro-Kannada activists
Bengaluru, Jan 27 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Monday that all cases registered against pro-Kannada activists will be withdrawn.
The CM was addressing a gathering at the unveiling of the 25-feet-tall bronze statue of Bhuvaneshwari, the goddess who represents the Karnataka state identity, on the premises of the Vidhana Soudha.
The statue of Bhuvaneshwari, which was sculpted at an approximate cost of Rs 21.24 crore is 41-feet-tall including the pedestal, and weighs around 31.5 tonne.
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While speaking at the event, although he acknowledged that one must love and embrace all languages, the CM said, in Karnataka, Kannadigas should follow the culture of speaking and interacting with “their brothers and other speakers” in Kannada.
“Instead of speaking incorrectly in other languages, we should speak our own language. In all our neighbouring states, the language spoken by the people of the respective state is sovereign. This should be practiced here, too,” said Siddaramaiah.
Insisting that everyone in the state should develop respect for the Kannada language, culture and art, the CM called for more learning and teaching of reading and writing Kannada.
“Only then will Kannada become the sovereign language,” he added.
