In Myanmar, Facebook essentially is the internet — and, by extension, the only source of information — for some 20 million people, according to BSR’s estimates. Mobile phones sold there already have Facebook installed.

As Facebook’s presence in Myanmar grew in recent years, the company did not address what the BSR report calls a “crisis of digital literacy” in a country that was just emerging from a military dictatorship and where the internet was still new.

Many citizens in Myanmar, the report says, still do not know the basics of the internet — from using a browser to setting up an email account — and are not equipped to distinguish real information from rumor. The report warns that this could continue to be a problem for Facebook, especially during the country’s general elections in 2020.

New problems could also arise related to WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook that is becoming popular in Myanmar.

WhatsApp has begun to play a leading role in elections, particularly in developing countries where it is being used by political parties, religious activists and others to spread information. In India’s recent elections, some WhatsApp messages were used to incite tensions while others were found to be false.

In Myanmar, the prevalence of hate speech, disinformation and bad actors on Facebook “has had a negative impact on freedom of expression, assembly and association for Myanmar’s most vulnerable users,” the report says. This has led to the suppression of free speech; violence and hate campaigns; and self-censorship by women, minorities and other vulnerable members of society.

Myanmar military officials were behind a systematic campaign on Facebook to target a mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, an investigation by The New York Times found. Human rights groups say this campaign has led to murder, rape and forced migration.