Session 1 covered ‘Women and the Internet: Promises and perils.’ Discussion showed the
general lack of information on gender. For example, statistics state that over 90% of the mobile
subscribers are internet users although there are no data that represent the gender ratio among
the internet users. The panelists pointed out that the statistics also do not reflect the timely
representation of the dynamic digital landscape and involvement of women in IT related
professional fields.
The panelists further described that although the initial pricing of setting up mobile internet
(i.e. pricing of SIM card) is within the affordable range of the public, the high incurring cost
for internet data usage, lack of free time imposed by domestic and professional duties and nonavailability of women focused content on the internet act as a barrier for the participation of
women on the internet landscape of the country. ‘According to the Alliance for Affordable
Internet (A4AI) standard, affordable internet is where 1GB of mobile broadband data is priced
at 2% or less than the Gross National Income per capita (1 for 2’ measure). Although the initial
pricing of setting up mobile internet (ie. pricing of SIM card) is less than 2% of the average
monthly income, the data usage upkeep cost or the incurring cost of internet usage is not.The
pricing for 1 Gb of data being 1,000 MMK pose a substantial burden toward those with basic
salary, including women.
One of the challenges hindering women's participation on the internet are the risks threatening
the safety of the women online - which are the result of the weak enforcement and nonavailability of laws protecting women against harassment and online abuse. Most of the content
online is in the Burmese language and little to none of the contents are available in local ethnic
languages - contributing to the weak participation of ethnic women on the internet. It was
recommended that integration of digital literacy programmes and curriculum in conventional
state educational modules can address many of the issues stated above.
Session 2 on ‘Media Literacy’ included discussion by news related agencies, academics in
journalism, government representatives and UNESCO, and addressed the media landscape on
social media, particularly Facebook, the most accessed platform in Myanmar. The behavior of
the public in assuming the contents on social media as news sources were emphasized.
It was highlighted that there are widespread existence of “yellow” pages or unaccountable and
unverified news pages operated and administrated by local personnel. However, the public
rarely realize that the pages are operated by personnel lacking capacity in journalism ethics,
methods and standards. As the local populace and the general public also relies on the unofficial
pages as news sources, it is crucial to train the administrators of the pages in media and
information literacy. With the public’s take on social media and unofficial media pages on it
as news sources, it becomes a challenge to distinguish between accountable and unaccountable
media or imposter media. Multiple pages, including imposter sources, are engaged in
widespread mis/disinformation in accordance with their own agendas from political and
religious predispositions. Moreover, their reliance on advertisements as major income source
also contributes toward lowering media quality in Myanmar. The panelists further described
that the accountable media outlets have lesser outreach than the influencers and the unofficial
outlets uploading unaccountable news pieces. The misinformative news pieces, designed to
shock, appeal to the public with news contents claiming alarming situations, often have more
outreach to the public on social media. The challenge is to induce change within the 20 million
Facebook users in the country. The situation highlight that media and internet literacy (MIL)
capacity building is critically essential for the public more than ever.
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