Social media is one of the only tools Rohingya Muslims have to make sure the world knows of their plight. But Facebook is taking that tool away by banning Rohingya groups and censoring their posts.

Myanmar’s military has been systematically targeting the Rohingya Muslim population -- attempting to kill, injure, and remove an entire population that has long been despised by Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

So why has Facebook designated a Rohingya resistance group a “dangerous organization,” ordering moderators to delete any content “by or praising” the group? As a source of news for people across the globe, it’s unacceptable for Facebook to pick and choose what issues we see on our newsfeeds.

Demand Facebook stop censoring Rohingya groups and adopt a transparent censorship policy.

Facebook claims it’s not censoring posts at the request of any government. But Myanmar’s leaders are clearly pleased with Facebook’s policy. Aung San Suu Kyi’s spokesman Zaw Htay urged his Facebook followers to report pro-Arsa content in a post that was shared some 7,000 times.

One Rohingya activist told the Guardian he was temporarily banned from Facebook in August for posting pictures of the violence in Rohingya villages on Facebook. Meanwhile, activist and journalist Mohammad Anwar said he believes Facebook is “trying to suppress freedom of expression...by colluding with the genocidaires” of the Myanmar regime.

This isn’t the first time Facebook’s censorship policies have helped hide state-sanctioned violence. Last year, Facebook came under fire for deactivating the account of Korryn Gaines during her fatal standoff with Maryland police. If Facebook is going to act as the “town square” of the internet, it needs to stop censoring users at the request of the police or government.

Tell Facebook to stop censoring Rohingya groups and adopt a censorship policy that works for users, not police and government actors.