DEMOCRACY DISCONNECTED: SOCIAL MEDIA’S CAUSTIC INFLUENCE ON SOUTHEAST ASIA’S FRAGILE REPUBLICS to penetrate the information bubbles that have become an intrinsic part of our digital lives, without arousing psychological defense mechanisms that can make individuals resistant to accepting new and sometimes contradictory information. These efforts to encourage open-minded thinking in the educational realm should also be extended to the physical world. A growing body of research points to the role that the design of our physical communities exerts on our happiness and social well-being.112 The physical layout of our environments can be better planned so as to rekindle the spontaneous real-world interactions among a diversity of people that have succumbed to the homogenous virtual communities online. Singapore offers an interesting case study of how such intentional urban planning has been implemented to engender greater societal harmony in a multi-ethnic environment.113 While the citystate has wrestled with the occasional outbreak of interethnic violence, most notably in the race riots of 1964 and 1969, it has largely managed to stave off hostilities, in part, by deliberately seeking to avoid the creation of racial enclaves.114 Elsewhere in the region, there are encouraging signs that urban planners are taking this need to foster diverse interactions into account. In Myanmar, the Yangon Heritage Trust, under the leadership of the historian Thant Myint-U, has been working to preserve the city’s unique colonial architecture while maintaining the diverse character of the community. The civil society organization has put together a comprehensive development strategy that calls for the creation of a livable city that improves social cohesion and cultivates a shared sense of civic pride.115 The United States also has an opportunity to effect positive change in Southeast Asia’s information sphere. Through government initiatives and partnerships with civil society organizations, Washington can help to promote digital literacy and social media responsibility in countries throughout the region. As an example of one such synergy, the nonprofit group Counterpart International has cooperated with the U.S. Agency for International Development to create a guide intended to help foreign nongovernmental organizations effectively leverage social media in their advocacy work.116 Going beyond such targeted efforts, however, Washington can also lend its unique experience in institution-building to help stimulate democratic resilience in countries where civil society is most vulnerable to the corrosive influence of internet-based disinformation campaigns. For instance, professional education exchange programs in fields such as journalism and the law could help to build an important bulwark against the spread of false information while also enhancing media oversight mechanisms in a manner that does not impinge upon free speech rights. For countries that still lack a well-developed press corps that serves as a trustworthy reference point, the United States could also support training programs to encourage responsible citizen journalism as a means to counter destructive narratives online. 112 Charles Montgomery, Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013). 113 Colin Marshall, “Story of Cities #27: Singapore – The Most Meticulously Planned City in the World,” The Guardian, April 21, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/21/story-cities-singapore-carefullyplanned-lee-kuan-yew. 114 Walter Sim, “The Race Issue: How Far Has Singapore Come?” The Straits Times, November 8, 2015, https:// www.straitstimes.com/politics/the-race-issue-how-far-has-singapore-come. 115 “Yangon Heritage Strategy,” Yangon Heritage Trust, http://www.yhtliveableyangon.org/en/home/. 116 “Social Networking: A Guide to Strengthening Civil Society through Social Media,” USAID, https://www.usaid. gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/SMGuide4CSO.pdf. 22 | Foreign Policy at Brookings