BANGKOK: Facebook said it has banned all remaining accounts linked to the Myanmar military on Thursday, citing the junta鈥檚 use of deadly force against anti-coup demonstrators.
The move, which takes effect immediately, applies to the military and entities controlled by the armed forces on both Facebook and Instagram.
It also bans 鈥渕ilitary-linked commercial entities鈥� from advertising on the platforms.
鈥淓vents since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated a need for this ban,鈥� the social media giant said in a statement.
鈥淲e believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw on Facebook and Instagram are too great,鈥� it added, using the Myanmar name for the country鈥檚 armed forces.
The junta has steadily increased its use of force against a massive and largely peaceful civil disobedience campaign demanding Myanmar鈥檚 army leaders relinquish power.
Three anti-coup protesters have been killed in demonstrations, while a man patrolling his Yangon neighborhood against night arrests was also shot dead.
Facebook said its ban was intended to prevent Myanmar鈥檚 generals 鈥渇rom abusing our platform.鈥�
The military has used Facebook to boost its claims that voter fraud marred an election last November after ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi鈥檚 party won in a landslide.
Since seizing power, the junta has arrested hundreds of anti-coup protesters, ordered nightly Internet blackouts and banned social media platforms 鈥� including Facebook 鈥� in an effort to quell resistance.
Thursday鈥檚 announcement follows Facebook鈥檚 earlier decision to kick off a page run by the regime鈥檚 鈥淭rue News鈥� information service after the tech giant accused it of inciting violence.
Pages for government offices now run by the junta remain unaffected.
鈥淭his ban does not cover government ministries and agencies engaged in the provision of essential public services,鈥� the company said. 鈥淭his includes the Ministry of Health and Sport, and the Ministry of Education.鈥�
In recent years, hundreds of army-linked pages have been blocked by Facebook after the social media giant came under heavy criticism for its ineffective response to malicious posts in the country.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and other top brass were booted from the platform in 2018, a year after a military-led crackdown forced around 750,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim community to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.
Facebook admitted that year it had failed to do enough to prevent the incitement of violence in Myanmar.
鈥淲e can and should do more,鈥� Facebook executive Alex Warofka said at the time.