Facebook posts detailing the early days of the ongoing military operations in Rakhine State are no longer visible on the Facebook page of Myanmar’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, Reuters found on Sunday. They continue to be missing from the page as of today.
No posts between July 31 and August 30 appear on the page. This period includes the initial attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on military outposts on August 25 and the subsequent military response, which is now the subject of a UN investigation following allegations of human rights abuses.
The posts can still be found through word or date searches, suggesting that the posts have been hidden using Facebook’s “hide” function, not deleted. Posts from this period that were previously shared will remain visible to audiences with whom they were shared, according to Facebook.
Ministry of Defense spokesman General Aung Ye Win told Reuters: “We don’t hide anything, it might be some kind of error.”
Home affairs ministry spokesman Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe said he “had no idea” about the issue. Both ministries are controlled by the military.
A Facebook spokesperson said it was at the discretion of page administrators to hide posts if they wished. Page administrators can also un-hide posts.
Posts from this period have not been removed from the Facebook page of Myawady – an army-run newspaper.
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