Although the offensive posts have been reported to the social media platform, many of them still exist. Some pages such as the “Anti Rohingya Club” and “Foreigners Mar Malaysia’s Image” were only removed after Reuters flagged them to Facebook.

In one private group with nearly 100,000 members, a comment says: “Hope they all die, this cursed pig ethnic group”.

Facebook acknowledged in 2018 that its platform was used to incite violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar, and last year spent more than US$3.7 billion (RM15.3 billion) on improving its safety and security.

But the surge of anti-Rohingya comments shows how xenophobic speech nonetheless persists.

“Assertions that Facebook is uncommitted to addressing safety and security are inaccurate and do not reflect the significant investment we’ve made to address harmful content on our platform,” a company spokesman told Reuters.

Reuters discovered more than three dozen pages and groups, including accounts run by former and current Malaysian security officials, that featured discriminatory language about refugees and undocumented migrants.

In closed private groups, some of the harshest comments were found. Such groups have also been a hotbed for hate speech and misinformation in other parts of the world.

“We do not allow people to post hate speech or threats of violence on Facebook and we will remove this content as soon as we become aware of it,” Facebook said.

Some of the pages that still remain online contain comments comparing Rohingya to dogs and parasites, whereas others disclosed where they had been spotted and encouraged authorities and the public to take action against them.

Widespread hate speech

“This kind of hate speech can lead to physical violence and persecution of a whole group. We saw this in Myanmar,” said John Quinley, senior human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, an independent group focused on Southeast Asia.

“It would be irresponsible to not actively take down anti-refugee and anti-Rohingya Facebook groups and pages.”

Initially, Malaysians had no issue with the refugees living in the country. However, public sentiment turned in April when the Rohingya were accused of spreading the Covid-19 virus. Hate speech circulated widely, including on Facebook, a platform used by nearly 70% of Malaysia’s population.

Rights groups and refugees said comments on Facebook helped escalate xenophobia in the country.

“Malaysians who have lived with Rohingya refugees for years have started calling the cops on us, some have lost jobs. We are in fear all the time,” said Abu, a Rohingya refugee who did not want to give his full name fearing repercussions.

Another refugee, who declined to be identified, said he deactivated his Facebook account after his details were posted and Malaysians messaged him telling him to go back to Myanmar, from where he fled five years ago.

“Facebook has failed, they don’t understand how dangerous such comments can be,” he said.

Absent authorities

Rights groups said the government had failed to do enough to curb xenophobia as it rounded up thousands of undocumented migrants and said it would no longer accept Rohingya refugees.

“The Malaysian government was completely absent from any sort of effort to try to curtail this wave of hate speech,” said Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comments.

Reuters also found four pages with links to security and enforcement agencies voicing anti-immigrant sentiment.

“Let us not suffer the cancer of this ethnic (group),” administrators of a group called “Friends of Immigration” posted. The group said it is run by current and former immigration officials.

That post from April was removed this month after Reuters flagged it to Facebook.

The Immigration Department, communications and multimedia ministry as well as the home ministry did not respond to requests for comments.

Among the earliest posts to draw comments calling for Rohingya to be shot was one from the Malaysian Armed Forces headquarters asking the public to be its “ears and eyes” and report undocumented migrants. A military spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the page.

Another post that was shared more than 26,000 times was from a page calling itself the Military Royal Intelligence Corps that said undocumented migrants “will bring problems to all of us”.

Reuters was unable to contact the administrator of the page. The military said it had nothing to do with the page and it was run by a former member of the intelligence unit.

Facebook has removed both posts and the intelligence corps page was also taken down.