9/24/21, 8:06 PM Radio Free Myanmar: Disinformation network spreads false news and hate speech | Frontier Myanmar Both Maung Maung and an account named “Poe Boroz” are admins of a group called Sett Lwin Moe that is a breeding ground for pro-USDP and anti-NLD content, including RFM templates. (Frontier) Avoiding detection The earliest example of an RFM post Frontier uncovered was published on November 8, 2019 by an account named Poe Boroz, which used a photo of a Myanmar model as its profile picture. The account posted frequent references to RFM and portrayed it as a US-based media organisation. Poe Boroz shared a job advertisement from RFM that claimed it was based in “Lexiton”, Maryland – a misspelling of Lexington. A few days later, the page shared another RFM post attempting to refute accusations that RFM spreads disinformation. Again, the post claimed that RFM is based in Maryland, but the accompanying map pointed to a location in Mandalay. Poe Boroz has since gone quiet, with no posts of any kind since May. Frontier found that Poe Boroz and Maung Maung are both admins of a group called Sett Lwin Moe that is a breeding ground for pro-USDP and anti-NLD content, including RFM templates. The other admins of the group, like the similarly named Seh Lwin Moe, also share RFM templates to other proUSDP pages with larger audiences, like this post which claimed a news presenter cursed people who mocked Aung San Suu Kyi. Seh Lwin Moe has created posts claiming to be a member of the Tatmadaw stationed in Shan State and his profile picture depicts a man in a Tatmadaw uniform reclining while holding a gun. Another admin, Pyi Sount Thar Kaung, has over 27,000 followers and has shared 300 RFM screenshots and videos since 2019. In January, the page posted an RFM video falsely claiming that Rohingya were studying in Yangon at government expense that received 1,300 reactions and 4,400 shares. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/radio-free-myanmar-disinformation-network-spreads-false-news-and-hate-speech/ 5/9