Meekin
- Hate Speech Platform
Meekin is a robust, Global South-driven law & computer science platform created by
lawyers and computer scientists from the Global South.
The stakes for dangerous speech are much higher for the Global South.
Westerners (don't understand the Global South are the leading commenters) fret over political culture wars raging on Facebook. By contrast, in the Global South, people are killed, imprisoned, beaten, or displaced from content on Facebook. The most notorious case of this is Myanmar, where 700,000 Rohingyas were forcibly moved into Bangladesh, with over 10,000 killed. Facebook admitted it was used to incite such violence in Myanmar.
We're not about flash --
we're about substance
There are organizations that emphasize marketing or flashy decks for social media monitoring. There are others that crank out development aid "blabla" frameworks. We're not about that. We're about the work.
We believe the problem is first and foremost one of law & policy. So we're run by a Myanmar-American lawyer. We believe the problem is just as much one of computer science. So we have a team of over 40 Myanmar software developers, AI researchers, designers, and data scientists, and partner with CS departments at major universities like Yale and Georgia Tech. And we believe the problem is multidisciplinary, drawing on cultural anthropology, journalism, sociology, and more. So we work with leaders in those fields as well.
Solutions rooted in law, computer science, and
deep understanding of the Global South.
Product
Existing social media monitoring solutions are really built by marketing firms with a commercial angle, i.e. helping companies better target Facebook ads and posts, or by fact-checkers supporting newsrooms. Our product is at core for civil society, NGOs, and universities to deal with the 21st century issues of incitement of violence, hate speech, and misinfo/disinfo online.
Vision
We are looking to bring a new approach than just Big Tech: civil society, policymakers, and technologists working together on law & computer science solutions to bring about a safer Internet globally.
Team
We think a team working on global issues needs to be global, not just operating out of Menlo Park, Shanghai, or Bangalore. Our team is based in Myanmar, Europe, and the US, consists of 95% Myanmar nationals and 55% women (50% female engineers).
Thought Leadership
We've noticed that only legal academics (don't understand the tech), technologists (don't understand the law), or Westerners (don't understand the Global South are the leading commenters. We understand all, and realize that we need to comment on all. This is a multidisciplinary problem, and we are a multidisciplinary organization.
Partners
We work with civil society, regulators, human rights and rule of law NGOs globally, with a focus on the Global South.
Countries
We are spinning up in Myanmar, Turkey, Morocco, Brazil, Libya, and Sudan, and project to be in 30 countries by the end of 2021.
