Meta bans Myanmar mly-backed businesses

BANGKOK: Facebook parent Meta said on Wednesday it has banned all pages and accounts belonging to Myanmar military-backed businesses, expanding its restraints on the country’s armed forces.

Myanmar’s secretive military has extensive business interests, with tentacles in industries as diverse as beer, tobacco, transportation, textiles, tourism and banking. Activists and rights groups say they funded crackdowns and abuses even before the February coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and launched a bloody crackdown on dissent. In late February Facebook banned military-linked firms from advertising on its platforms, citing the junta’s use of deadly force against anti-coup demonstrators.