How adorable is Po Wa Yote? Surely, when confronted with his giant smiling baby face, nobody would share a hateful social media post.
That’s what Facebook hopes, anyway.
On Wednesday, the social media giant published a Myanmar translation of its universal community standards – or rules of online behavior – accompanied by cutesy pictures of the beloved cartoon character, the Myanmar Times reported.
A local survey found that local people see Po Wa Yote as a kind and caring pal.
The guidlines, which are the same worldwide, determine what content can be removed from the site. Users can report offensive posts and moderators will delete them if they do not meet community standards.
The translated version, created in collaboration with Yangon-based innovation hub Phandeeyar and Joosk illustrators, comes amid an ongoing battle with online hate speech in Myanmar.
“The important thing with making the community standards available is to really help people understand that these are the rules that apply on Facebook,” Mia Garlick, the site’s Asia Pacific policy director, told the Times.
While Facebook has become an important news source in Myanmar – Aung San Suu Kyi launched her election campaign on the site this week – users have complained about posts inciting hate and even violence against religious and social groups.
In July 2014, two people were killed amid communal violence in Mandalay after nationalist monk U Wirathu used Facebook to share the false accusation that Muslim teashop owners had raped a Buddhist woman.
The site was reportedly temporarily shut down by the government.
Earlier this year, Facebook introduced stickers designed by the Panzagar or ‘flower speech’ campaign against online bullying.
Photos / Facebook
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