This paper investigates whether social media affects the intensity of ethnic conflict.
To distinguish the potential effects of social media from those of the broader
internet, I focus on the ongoing Myanmar conflict because in such context internet
is mainly accessed via Facebook. To identify the causal effect of social media on
conflict, I take advantage of a shock in Facebook availability and use local variation
in cell phone coverage as an exogenous determinant of social media use. Results
indicate that on average social media availability reduced the occurrence of conflict.
The analysis, however, reveals important regional differences suggesting that
inflammatory content on social media may escalate conflict in areas where ethnic
tensions are particularly high.